Labor says it will build a new high school at the rapidly growing Huntlee housing estate if it wins next month's state election.
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The party's Upper Hunter candidate, Peree Watson, Cessnock MP Clayton Barr and Labor deputy leader Prue Car announced the campaign promise on Friday afternoon, five weeks before NSW is due to go to the polls.
They said a Labor government would start planning this year to secure the sites identified for the high school and a future primary school in Huntlee.
"A Labor government will deliver a high school for this community," Ms Watson said.
Huntlee, which lies between North Ruthbury and Branxton, is planned to house 20,000 people. The 2021 Census showed the estate's population had grown from 900 to 2300 in five years.
The Cessnock Advertiser reported last week that parents living in the estate were crying out for a new high school so their children did not have to make the 45-minute bus trip to Rutherford Technology High School.
"We were told Huntlee is this wonderful new town designed for 20,000 people, which is all well and good, but this town and its residents deserve education facilities," parent Lee-Anne Moore told the paper last week.
"Given Huntlee will be home to 20,000 people, a similar size to Singleton, we need these education facilities, first a high school and then a primary school, to be built, and built now.
"Branxton Public School is currently at about 175 per cent capacity with 400 students enrolled, and those children will need a high school which should be located at Huntlee."
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said last week that the government had not allocated funding for new schools in the Huntlee area.
Building new and upgraded schools in growth areas is part of Labor's education policy before the election.
Ms Car, who is also Labor's shadow education minister, said on Friday that the local community had been "calling out for a local public high school, so it's important the planning begins and the site is secured now".
Mr Barr said last week that Branxton, Greta and Huntlee residents "can expect in a reasonable amount of time that these new facilities will be built".
Huntlee is on the border of the Cessnock and Upper Hunter electorates.
The redrawn seat of Upper Hunter, held by Nationals MP Dave Layzell on a thin 0.5-point margin, is a key battleground in the election campaign.
Very few new public high schools have been built in the Hunter in recent decades as private education providers have invested in catering to student needs.
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
