“When we saw them we discovered the facilities were suited to the height of primary school students,and disturbingly the school seemed to be unaware of the impracticality of the demountable toilets,” the submission said.
The warning came as western Sydney councils raised concerns aboutplay space in public schools,saying there was too much reliance on local government facilities because schools being built in new areas were too small.
In a submission to the inquiry,Parramatta Council said the loss of open play space in the new and upgraded schools led to increasing reliance on council facilities and public spaces. Ten per cent of the council’s sports ground bookings were by schools.
“This is exacerbating the already significant pressures on council open spaces and ongoing maintenance to meet the growing demand facilitated by higher housing densities,with the majority of our sports grounds currently operating at or above capacity,” it said.
Parramatta Council did aerial mapping of its 41 public primary and secondary schools from 2009 to 2021 and found open green space had diminished by 16 per cent. “Potentially 14 schools needed additional open space to meet the Department of Education’s minimum requirement of ten square metre open space per student,” it said.
Western Parklands Councils made a similar point in its submission,saying schools were given smaller properties in greenfield areas because they could use council facilities.
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“It is critical that shared delivery models,co-use facilities and the like are carefully considered to ensure further social disadvantage does not continue in south-western and western Sydney,” the submission said.
Western Parklands Councils - which includes Fairfield,Camden and Penrith - also warned that delays in planning and delivering government school infrastructure in new suburbs allowed non-government schools to establish themselves earlier to fill the gap.
In Schofields in the north-west,St John Paul II Catholic College opened in 1996 and The Ponds High only opened in 2015. In the south-west,Oran Park Anglican College opened in 2012,while the nearby Oran Park High School opened in 2020,the submission said.
A NSW Department of Education spokeswoman said all new schools would include the recommended 10 square metres of play space.
“Where limited play space is available on at a school site,a range of measures are considered to maximise play space,including rooftop play areas,enclosed sports courts,and joint use of facilities with councils or neighbouring properties,” she said.
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