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Warrnambool Special Developmental School families have waited long enough for a new school to be built South West Coast MP Roma Britnell says.
Mrs Britnell said funds for the construction and completion of a new school must be a “matter of urgency” and called for government commitment in the upcoming state budget.
The Warrnambool Special Developmental School has outgrown its Hyland Street site which houses 130 students at a school built for 30 students in the 70s.
Its location on top of a steep hill also makes it difficult for parents and carers of children in wheelchairs or who have physical disabilities.
The new school is to be built at 189 Wollaston Road, a sprawling 18.5-acre riverside block. It was purchased for $1.24 million from a $5 million commitment in the 2015-16 state budget.
Mrs Britnell said the $5 million allocated was used to purchase the land, but it could not be used to fund the build.
School council vice president and parent Elaine Knowles said plans had been drawn up according to education department specifications but they needed funds for it to go ahead.
“We want (premier) Mr (Daniel) Andrews to make sure the money is in this year’s state budget,” Mrs Knowles said.
Mrs Knowles said the 17 classrooms were currently “taking over” the nearby Warrnambool Community College carpark and the area was “getting more and more unsafe.”
School council member Craig Haberfield said being in a wheelchair was challenging enough for his daughter Grace, 8, let alone having to negotiate the uneven site.
“On a flat site you’d do away with a lot of the ramps that are currently present,” Mr Haberfield said.
“Getting her out on the street, unless your car is parked where the buses park, you have to take her to Hyland Street and everyone knows what the gradient’s like there.
“It becomes an unsafe situation if you’re trying to transfer her into the car from the pavement.”
Mrs Britnell said families were given a “false sense of excitement and hope” receiving funds in the 2015-16 budget and then “given nothing” in last year’s budget.
“This is long enough, (families have) been insulted enough,” Mrs Britnell said. “This is time to act and they cannot go on any longer.
“We need it to be funded in this budget. The children and parents have waited more than their fair share of time and it needs to be funded and completed as a matter of urgency.”