PAEC - School Infrastructure Inquiry Submission no. 3

About Wyndham

The City of Wyndham, located on the western

edge of Melbourne, is one of the largest and

fastest growing municipalities in Australia.

Wyndham’s residential population is now over

270,000 in 2019 and is forecast to grow to

more than 500,000 by 2041.

Housing in Wyndham is 15% more affordable

than in Greater Melbourne and younger

generations dominate the Wyndham

population, with 58% of residents 35 years or

below.

More than half of Wyndham households are

families with children, and the majority of these

households have children under 15 years old.

Thirteen babies are born to Wyndham mothers

each day, equal to 4.1 primary school classes

each week.

Responses to the Auditor General’s Recommendations

Recommendation 4. Test the accuracy of its

provision planning forecasting over short-,

medium- and long-term projections to

understand its reliability over time (see

Section 3.2.1)

Wyndham has appreciated being part of

annual school-building pipeline planning

meetings run by Department of Education and

Training since 2017.

However, our view is that improvements could

be made to the forecasting process that would

provide a better starting point for collaborative

planning.

Inadequate benchmarks

Wyndham’s residential growth has deviated

from Precinct Structure Plans in key ways that

impact Department of Education and Training

(DET) forecasts:

o First, lot sizes are smaller, resulting in a

higher number of dwellings than expected.

o Second, new developments are attractive

for young families and first home buyers,

resulting in an average household size

that is substantially higher than in

established areas.

As a result, dwellings benchmarks are

currently inadequate to forecast the need for

schools in Wyndham.

Wyndham’s Forecast

Wyndham has developed a forecast of school

needs in the City, applying a benchmark of

one government primary school per 3,000

dwellings and one government secondary

school per 9,000 dwellings to current

population projections.

These benchmarks have been adopted by

Growth Area Councils to plan infrastructure

based on the 2008 Planning for Community

Infrastructure in Growth Areas report. This

report is available on the Victorian Planning

Authority web page Community Infrastructure

Planning.

Applying these benchmarks across Wyndham

City an additional 25 primary and 9 secondary

schools are needed between 2020 and 2041,

on top of schools already in the pipeline.

Planned but not yet funded schools partly

alleviate this demand: 17 primary schools and

5 secondary schools are planned in Precinct

Structure Plans but not yet funded, leaving a

shortfall of 12 schools until 2041 that are not

planned for, but needed.

PAEC - School Infrastructure Inquiry Submission no. 3

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Proposed modelling improvements

The DET benchmarks are based on largely

established areas, and the demographics of

residents in growth areas differ substantially.

A model that considers household composition

in addition to dwelling numbers would more

accurately reflect school needs across

established and growth areas.

There are also issues with using ‘primary’ and

‘secondary’ benchmarks in areas such as

Point Cook where P-9 and senior secondary

schools are the norm rather than P-6 primary

schools and years 7-12 secondary schools.

A more accurate picture of school needs may

be drawn from:

1. The number of school-aged children

enrolled in the local area by year level.

2. The proportion of enrolments in

government schools by year level.

3. The average number of enrolments per

school by year level.

4. The number of existing schools/campuses

by year level.

The three elements above are then used as

follows:

- The combination of points 1 and 2 form a

benchmark for enrolment demand which

can be applied to the forecast number of

children in the area.

- Point 3 can then be applied to enrolment

demand by year level to determine the

number of schools needed per year level.

- Point 4 (supply by year level) can then be

compared with the above point to

determine the surplus (or deficit) number

of year level opportunities.

- The need for schools rather than year

levels is then based on the highest deficit

by year level for the relevant school types

(i.e. P-6 and 7-12, or P-9 and 10-12).

Frequency of modelling

Given the rapid growth in Wyndham and other

outer suburban areas, more frequent

adjustments would be beneficial for Wyndham

residents and for those in other Melbourne

growth areas.

Campaign for More Schools

As a result of historical under-provision of

schools and with a significant shortfall of

schools projected in Wyndham even under

current government plans for additional new

schools, Wyndham City has conducted a

public ‘schools4wyndham’ campaign to

advocate for the Victorian Government to meet

the school needs of residents. The campaign

website can be viewed at

www.schools4wyndham.org.au and the

Facebook page is at

facebook.com/schools4wyndham

Recommendation 5. Establish guidelines to

inform its decisions for managing changing

enrolments in established areas—considering

school locations, purchasing of land ahead of

when it is required, access issues for students,

and size of school land (see Section 3.2.2)

New sites required

As the populations of established Wyndham

suburbs Point Cook and Williams Landing

have continued to grow, Wyndham has

requested that DET conduct feasibility studies

to identify sites for new schools in these areas.

DET’s 2019 consultation with Wyndham

provided a forum for Council to communicate

this need to DET.

PAEC - School Infrastructure Inquiry Submission no. 3

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Incomplete P-9 schools

The implementation of staged delivery of P-9

schools in established areas of Wyndham

could be improved. Doherty’s Creek P-9 in

Truganina and Saltwater P-9 in Point Cook

were both opened in 2019 as P-6 schools

following the completion of stage 1

infrastructure delivery. Stage 2 of these

schools should be completed as a matter of

urgency to meet the shortfall in years 7-9

places in those areas.

While Homestead Senior Secondary School is

opening in 2020 for Years 10-12, the nearest

school for Saltwater students leaving after

Grade 6 is Alamanda College K-9, which is

already above capacity having grown from 370

to 2500 students since it opened in 2013.

There is also a shortage of secondary places

in Truganina for Grade 6 graduates from

Doherty’s Creek.

Parents are having to find interim schools or

travel long distances for schooling due to

these shortfalls, or else add to existing school

overcrowding.

Earlier land purchases

The dispersed nature of residential

development in Wyndham combined with the

speed of growth necessitates earlier land

purchases especially in order to ensure that

land for future school sites will be available

when it is needed.

Wyndham is in an ideal position to advise/

collaborate with the DET to determine future

sites as our internal departments have

information on site readiness, developer

intentions and adjacent infrastructure.

Recommendation 6. Work with local councils

and other partners, particularly in growth

areas, to strategically plan and design multi-

use, shared and co-located facilities before

new schools are funded through state budgets

(see Section 3.4)

Working together

Wyndham has appreciated being part of

annual school-building pipeline planning

meetings run by DET since 2017.

Wyndham City supports the Victorian

Government’s vision of schools becoming

integrated hubs for community learning,

recreation and arts, and early childhood

education and care.

Since 2018, the DET has been implementing

kindergartens on two school sites in Wyndham

and Wyndham City Council supports the

continued delivery of kindergartens on-site or

next door to every new Victorian primary

school set to open from 2021.

While the Victorian Government recognises

the benefit of co-location, the planning and

delivery process and timelines for new

government schools currently locks local

government out of an effective partnership

role.

Master planning for a school site is not

normally conducted until the land has been

acquired or funding has been allocated.

This then creates tension as the desire to

construct the new school facility as quickly as

possible conflicts with the time required to

create an integrated facility in partnership with

local government.

Community infrastructure such as sport and

recreation, early years and learning facilities

cannot be effectively integrated on sites under

the current model.

PAEC - School Infrastructure Inquiry Submission no. 3

This disconnect in the planning process will

have long-term negative consequences for

community access and use of these sites and

is a missed opportunity to deliver public value

outcomes.

To realise the local and on-going benefits of

locating schools within community hubs or

precincts, DET and Council should work

together to establish an appropriate model for

planning and delivering shared-facilities and

integrated sites.

Governance

As part of this, establishing a new approach to

governance would improve efficiency of

ongoing maintenance, amenity developments

and opportunities for community uses.

Consideration should be given to linkages

between school councils, clubs committees

and other relevant stakeholders in a new

governance model.

Integrated facilities

Allocating responsibility to a dedicated

individual in DET for the planning and delivery

of integrated and co-located infrastructure is

suggested.

Wyndham has requested that DET consider

the option to deliver the Holyoake Parade P-6

school in Manor Lakes and co-located family

centre as an integrated, shared-use facility.

The Holyoake Parade school is not yet funded

and this early collaborative planning example

is the first of its kind for Wyndham. An “under

one roofline” approach is the desired model for

Wyndham’s co-located school sites.

Early master planning between Wyndham

Council and DET (central and regional) as the

first stage of school development around

school and community precincts would

maximise integration opportunities with co-

located early years or community facilities.

Collaborative master planning

For collaborative master planning to be

effective, Victorian Government resources

need to be committed in advance of the state

budget allocating funds for land acquisition.

This will mitigate the risks of out of sequence

development by capitalising on shared facility

opportunities and ensuring the schools

relationship with adjacent active open space

and/or community facilities has a long-term

benefit – rather than planning in isolation.

More specifically, the Terms of Reference and

purpose of the new schools planning

committees need to be reviewed and

strengthened to enable meaningful and useful

partnership outcomes. The current committees

cover too many new school sites to allow for

meaningful feedback and engagement

between partners, and the timing of shared

information in planning misses the opportunity

for effective co-location.

We support a more localised model, which

includes Local Government

representation. Committees should

commence prior to design. This would also

support joint community consultation and

engagement on sites where co-located

infrastructure is planned.

PAEC - School Infrastructure Inquiry Submission no. 3