HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Member Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-11-19 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

ST CLAIR LAND SWAP

Ms PORTOLESI (Hartley) (14:26): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Conservation. How is the government—

Mr Pengilly: You will be competing with Aboriginal affairs.

Ms PORTOLESI: Aboriginal affairs?

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Finniss!

Ms PORTOLESI: How is the government—

Mr Pengilly interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Finniss!

The Hon. I.F. Evans: The question is: did you write this question?

The SPEAKER: The member for Davenport!

Ms PORTOLESI: How will the St Clair land swap benefit students at Woodville High School?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Could I ask the member for Hartley to repeat the question? I did not hear it.

Ms PORTOLESI: Yes, sir. My question is to the Minister for Education.

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley!

Ms PORTOLESI: How will the St Clair land swap benefit students at Woodville High School?

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH (Adelaide—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:26): I thank the member for Hartley for that question and I commend her for her interest in high quality educational facilities for the good of students in South Australia. The proposal to redevelop land—

Mr PISONI: Sir, I rise on a point of order. The minister has no responsibility for the land swap at St Clair.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr PISONI: No responsibility whatsoever.

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley will take his seat. It is entirely up to the government to decide which minister has responsibility for what, not the member for Unley or me.

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH: The proposal to redevelop land adjoining the school will be of great benefit to the students of Woodville High. The oval will be relocated and brand new change rooms will be developed as part of a $2.44 million redevelopment of a 4.7 hectare site that is now the Sheridan development area. This new site will replace an equivalent area of land at St Clair Reserve, which has been earmarked for a transit-oriented development to help revitalise the western suburbs.

I recently approved a variation agreement between the City of Charles Sturt and the recreation and sports minister (Hon. Michael Wright) that facilitates the land swap and makes new arrangements for the school's continued access to the new recreation area. The Governor has approved this variation today. The principal of Woodville High—

Mr Pengilly interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Finniss is warned. The minister.

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH: Thank you, sir. The principal of Woodville High said recently that there were a number of advantages to the land swap for that school community. It would provide easier access to the relocated oval and avoid the opening of roads that would otherwise have posed a risk to students accessing the nearby gymnasium. The principal and the governing council have given their in-principle support. The council has also agreed to commence formal proceedings to close sections of Actil Avenue. This will allow students to walk freely between the existing St Clair Reserve and the new open space.

Woodville High School is an excellent school with a very fine reputation around the state. It currently serves 1,137 students, and that number is a significant increase from the 719 that it served only in 2004. There has been very rapid growth of enrolment recently. The school is also going to embark on an exciting building program to deliver world-class facilities to the western suburbs—something that I can appreciate is not of much interest over there.

In October the proposal to develop Woodville High School was passed by the Public Works Committee. It is estimated to cost $8.6 million, and will accommodate a future enrolment of 1,200 students. The centrepiece of this redevelopment will be the construction of a new performing arts centre and additions to the existing music centre. There will be redevelopment of the heritage Meithke Building as a resource centre and a student support services building. There will be, in addition, redevelopment to accommodate classrooms and IT spaces and an upgrade of the existing Brocas Avenue car park.

The project also includes a number of very significant environmental sustainability features, such as a two kilowatt grid connected solar PV system to be mounted on the roof of the performing arts building. Each year it should produce about 3,600 kilowatt hours of renewable electricity.

In addition, there will be two new 22,000 litre rainwater tanks, again collecting water from the performing arts centre, providing up to 200 kilolitres of water each year for toilet flushing and irrigation. I am told that this fabulous project for the western suburbs will be completed in 2011 and will be a centrepiece of public education in the area. The school, of course, has also benefited from the commonwealth's Building the Education Revolution initiative, receiving $200,000 in National School Pride maintenance funding.

The community should be really proud of the fact that they are one of only 40 government high schools to receive funding under the Science and Language Centres for the 21st Century scheme, another part of the Building the Education Revolution agenda. Funding of an additional $1.75 million will be used for a language centre.

I am sure that you will agree that in the years ahead the exciting redevelopment of Woodville High School will be a beacon in the west. The investment that we have made in the western suburbs is one that we, on this side at least, would support.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT