Precinct plan ‘positive’

By Rebecca Fraser
COMMUNITY response to the proposed Dandenong Education Precinct was very positive last week when two public meetings were held to discuss the planned initiative.
Spokesperson for the precinct work, Mr Alan Collier, the President of Dandenong High School Council, said more than 70 people attended the two meetings and the response had been extremely positive.
He said many questions were raised and, in most cases, answers were provided.
But Mr Collier said the audience was also advised that the work was still in the very early stages and some answers were not yet available.
“We had about 30 people at the Doveton meeting on Wednesday night and about 40 people on Thursday night in Dandenong,” Mr Collier said.
“Everyone thought it was a good idea and there was no opposition to the plan.
“Some questions like the nuts and bolts of things and the daytoday running of things could not be answered because everything is not set in concrete yet.
“Issues of transport from Doveton to Dandenong and disciplinary methods across the campuses were brought up but will have to be discussed at a later date when things become more finalised.”
Mr Collier said the positives from the meetings were that the project has been accepted by the public.
“The next thing is to get the proposal finished and into the political arena,” he said.
The learning precinct would see Doveton Secondary College, Cleeland Secondary College and Dandenong High School share a $30 million education facility with strong links to Chisholm Institute of TAFE.
The Department of Education and Training has already allocated funding to further research the proposed facility and Mr Collier said the project would eventually be formalised into a submission seeking further government funding.
He said they hoped to have the project approved in the next State budget and the shared facility operational by 2009.
Mr Collier, also a member of both the Project Committee and the Reference Group, chaired the Community Information and Consultation Session last Thursday.
“All people concerned with this project are committed to thorough consultation and to gathering community ideas, both from schools and from the wider community.
“I am confident that we have in place a good structure to gather the ideas and contributions of the community,” he said.
Further meetings of the various committees are scheduled and further community consultations will also be undertaken as the work in draft form is further developed.
The work of the Project Committee will be forwarded to a Reference Group, which is a widely representative community group of about 20 people.
Mr Collier said they hoped to have the report ready for government approval by midSeptember.