Page 2119 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 2 August 2022
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They are asking for a comprehensive building condition report to be done at their school and for action to be taken on a risk-based program of maintenance. This is to respond to a number of issues they have identified, including but not limited to cracked walls, old and ripped carpets and, in particular, unhygienic bathrooms that no amount of cleaning can fix.
The Lyneham Primary School community, like all our school communities, cares deeply about the conditions that their students learn in. They are asking for the implementation of the recommendations of this Assembly’s inquiry into the management of ACT school’s infrastructure.
As a member of the Standing Committee on Education and Community Inclusion—I sat on that committee—I endorse all of its recommendations. One recommendation I particularly endorse—and it is of particular stress to the people at Lyneham Primary School—is to ensure that libraries and other specialist teaching spaces are excluded from the school’s capacity calculations.
We know in Canberra’s inner north that our population continues to increase. In fact, many of us in this place were caught by surprise by the recent census that shows that all parts of Canberra continue to increase at rates that were not expected. If that is to continue in the inner north, particularly with more medium and high density urban infill development, which of course we Greens support, it stands to reason that there will be even greater student populations coming to some of Canberra’s oldest schools. It is not unreasonable to expect that these schools are of the highest possible quality for our newest Canberrans. That starts with a detailed and comprehensive audit of the facilities at Lyneham Primary School and appropriate investments to ensure the maintenance of their school community long-term.
It has been put to me that the Lyneham Primary School community and their P&C should not have to petition government to ensure that their young people have a clean and safe place to send their kids to school, but I do think the petitioning process is an important and valuable opportunity for communities to highlight areas of necessary investment.
As you can imagine, Madam Speaker, as the Greens spokesperson for education, and the sponsor of this petition, I will be keenly inspecting the budget papers tabled by the Treasurer this afternoon to ensure that Lyneham Primary School and other schools are adequately invested in so they are safe, clean spaces for teaching and learning.
Environment—Bluetts Block-Piney Ridge—petition 11-22
DR PATERSON (Murrumbidgee) (11.04): I wish to speak to the Bluetts Block-Piney Ridge petition. As a local member for Murrumbidgee, I am very proud and pleased to support this e-petition from the Conservation Council and residents across Canberra who are invested in the future of Bluetts Block-Piney Ridge.
The petitioners who signed the petition called on the government to ensure that a full ecological assessment is undertaken of Stromlo blocks 402 and 403. This e-petition was signed by 732 community members, with signatories outlining that the area provides important landscape connectivity from the Murrumbidgee River corridor to
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