Orange Grove Public School battles to protect playground

By TILEAH DOBSON

Parents and students at Orange Grove Public School in Lilyfield are fighting to keep grassland for children to use for outdoor play.

In 2012, the need for more classrooms to cater to the growing demand at the public school was recognised and the P&C, Government Architect, and Department of Education got to work developing a set of principles for redevelopment in 2012 and 2015.

However, it was only by chance in the middle of 2022 that parents and the school community discovered a pre-development application lodged by the NSW Department of Education with the Inner West Council.

According to local resident and member of the Save Orange Grove group, Angela Rheinlaender, it was a total “contradiction to the principles previously adopted” and threatened to remove the open green space at the school.

“A group of concerned parents and citizens delved further into this proposal, through research, obtaining expert advice and using Freedom of Information legislation,” she told City Hub.

“They discovered that further masterplans had been developed in total secret and without the knowledge of the school community in 2018, 2020 and 2022.”

“The first of these adopted the principles previously agreed through a consultative process with all the relevant parties. The last two ignored all previous work and proposed building over the much-loved open green space.”

The Department of Education organised a consultation process in response to the growing opposition but according to Rheinlaender, “the views of angry and frustrated parents were dismissed and questions not answered”.

“This was further exacerbated when the school Principal advised the P&C she was not authorised to provide any information,” she told City Hub.

Protest against plans for school

As a result, hundreds of students, parents, local and state politicians gathered outside the school’s gate in protest.

Local member for the seat of Balmain, Jamie Parker was in attendance. Members of the Inner West Council were in attendance including Mayor Darcy Byrne, Independent Councillor John Stamolis,  and Greens Councillor and Greens candidate for Balmain Kobi Shetty.

The mayor spoke with City Hub and stated that once he was alerted to proposal, he “requested a briefing from the State Member and the Government.”

“When that briefing was eventually arranged, I expressed my strong opposition to the proposal and insisted that they go back to the drawing board and involve the parent community in the design of better plans,” Mayor Byrne said.

“I remain completely opposed to the overdevelopment proposed by the NSW Government and hope that the whole parent community will be listened to and included in coming up with a better plan that will improve the facilities for students.”

Cr Shetty echoed similar sentiments, telling City Hub that “as a parent at the school and as a local councillor representing the community,” she’s been involved since the beginning.

“Along with helping organise the campaign and protest, I’ve also worked with the parent body to express to the Department of Education the importance of the green space for our children, and the need to reverse plans to build over it,” she said.

“A recent inquiry into the planning and delivery of school infrastructure in NSW found that the planning process lacks transparency. They have made two recommendations, that the Department of Education improve consultation with school communities, and that they abolish the use of NDAs for parent representatives on project working groups.”

The Department of Education has cited that it can’t build the classrooms anywhere else due to a heritage-listed classroom. However heritage architect expert Dr Peter Watts disputes this claim.

“[The classroom] burnt down in 1938. There’s almost nothing left of the building except a little bit of a brick wall in the middle,” Dr Watts told A Current Affair.

Rheinlaender says that “it’s curious” that the Department of Education “went to great lengths with their heritage excuses when neither the school nor its grounds have any official, recognised heritage listing or interim heritage order nor are they in a heritage conservation area.”

“External historians and heritage experts were able to quickly confirm that this building had been substantially altered in 1927 and that much of it destroyed and altered after a major fire in 1938 which left little original fabric,” she said.

“Subsequent information gained through Freedom of Information legislation revealed a flawed heritage report, which had formed the basis for the Department’s heritage claims.”

The P&C conducted a survey, which showed an overwhelming support by parents that the open green space needed to stay. And despite repeated requests, no further information has been given by either the government or school management.

“The community is at a point where they feel that no matter what we do, the government railroads through with its development proposal,” Rheinlaender told City Hub.

“Some have already removed their protest signs from their houses because they feel let down and have given up. People have lost trust in the Department with its lack of transparency and feel that cost savings are the motive behind the new scheme, leaving the community and environment out of the equation.”

“Having City Hub bring media attention to the issue gives the community hope that people in power get alerted, or people power is generated, and that this set course of action comes to a hold.”

City Hub contacted the Department of Education for comment.