PETER HYSLOP
Premier Chris Minns has visited Port Stephens today turn the first sod on Medowie High School, a project years in the making.
The new school will open its doors to students in Term 1 2027, following a long fight from Port Stephens MP Kate Washington.
She delivered an emotional speech, saying it had taken since 2011 to get it off the ground.
“This has been a fight from the families of Medowie forever,” she said.
“I know that there are people here that thought they were going to be the first cohort in the new school, and that was decades ago.
“My youngest was in my arms when I first started fighting for this school and she’s now 19. So this is an enormous day,” she said.
It will feature 29 modern classrooms, specialist workshops and labs, play and sport facilities, a multipurpose hall and library.
Chris Minns says it’s long overdue.
“This is the first new high school for the Hunter Valley in 25 years and it’s long overdue for one of the fastest growing communities in New South Wales,” he said.
“I think both sides of politics recognise that this school was absolutely essential for a fast growing community a long time ago,” he said.
