There are few more important public policy areas than education. I salute those working hard in our local schools, including of course the teachers and supporting staff, along with Boards of Trustees and parents and everyone else ensuring that our next generation of Kiwis gets a great learning start in life.
Of course if an education system is to be effective then we need actual schools in which the learning can be delivered.
For years the northwest area of Auckland has lacked sufficient school capacity, with a fast-growing population outstripping classrooms steadily.
In particular, an additional high school is needed, given that we have many more primary schools than secondary ones. The nearest secondary schools to the tightly packed northwest suburbs (Kaipara College and Massey High School) have much to offer but are only accessible through the considerable traffic of SH16.
Throughout the time that I have been local MP this has been an issue on which I’ve been advocating to the powers-that-be.
By way of update, I can report that I have been corresponding with the Ministry of Education about their continued inability to acquire land for this purpose. For more than two years they have been telling me that they are working on this but without result yet.
I recently wrote to suggest that, given the lapse of time, surely using the Public Works Act to acquire the relevant land compulsorily should be considered.
Thinking about other options, I have also written to suggest that a parcel of land in the Fletchers subdivision at Riverhead – earmarked by the developer to host a school – should be utilised to establish a secondary school. Fletchers themselves are amenable to this.
Until now it has been contemplated that an additional school could be a primary one. As I have emphasised in a recent letter on the subject, however, while additional classroom capacity for primary school students in the area will continue to be needed – to match huge local population growth – the greater and much more urgent need is for an additional secondary school.
I am grateful that Fletchers have acknowledged this point and so now the ball is in the court of the Ministry of Education. I will keep you posted.
