BY SAMUEL BARTETT
Port Stephens MP Kate Washington has called on the State government to remember its promise to build a new high school in Medowie.
The Department of Education has owned land in Medowie set aside for a public school since 1983 but the Ferodale Road site has been left untouched.
She called on the Minister for Education to rule out selling off the land or using it for anything other than its original purpose.
She asked the minister in parliament on Thursday, "tell us what you plan to do with the department of education land that still sits vacant."
"Its a plan designed to give themselves an excuse to never deliver a public high school in Medowie," she explained.
The calls come as the Port Stephens population increases and travel time to high schools further afield grow longer.
Kate Washington said, "We were told by the department that when student numbers reached attending point, the plan would kick in. Nothing has happened, despite Medowie's population growing exponentially."
She finished and asked the Government, "if their plan means they will never build a public high school in Medowie, be honest and tell us."
Calls for the public high school have not abated despite the construction of Catherine McAuley Catholic school in Medowie. Locals are still pushing for a Government-funded school as promised long ago.
