Huntlee residents' desperate plea for a high school

Well for one, many of the young families living in this housing development near Branxton, are looking to the future and they are calling on the government to commit to building a new Huntlee high school.

Huntlee has a child care centre but school aged children are zoned to attend Branxton Public School and for high school they have to travel 20 kilometres to Rutherford Technology High School - a bus trip of more than 45 minutes.

"We were told Huntlee is this wonderful new town designed for 20,000 people which is all well and good but this town and its residents deserve education facilities," said Lee-Anne Moore.

Ms Moore's children attend Branxton Public School, which she and other residents, who gathered in Huntlee's park on Friday, said was overcrowded and required a new demountable each year to cope with the influx of children mainly from Huntlee.

"Given Huntlee will be home to 20,000 people, a similar size to Singleton - we need these education facilities first a high school and then a primary school to be built.

"And built now. Branxton Public School is currently at about 175% capacity with 400 students enrolled and those children will need a high school which should be located at Huntlee."

To date the residents have been disappointed with the NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell's response that the education needs of the area were currently being met by Branxton PS and Rutherford Technology HS. The Minister added enrolments were being monitored.

Ms Moore said there was a contradiction between the State Government fast tracking the Huntlee development as well as approving smaller lot sizes, and their refusal to commit to providing the schools needed.

In her response NSW Education Minister, Sarah Mitchell stated there is no funding allocation at present for new schools in the area, this is despite Huntlee's Voluntary Planning Agreement requiring them to provide land to the NSW Government for new schools, she said.

As a resident of Elderslie Ms Moore sees the impacts of the population growth throughout the region.

"We can talk about Huntlee but we also have other nearby housing developments like Radford Park and Murray Rise all putting pressure on the existing services such as schools," she said.

"We simply want the government to commit now to a high school."

One of the students who has to travel to Rutherford for high school is 13-year-old Amelia Shannon who lives at North Rothbury.

When she attended Branxton Public School it was a short trip from home - less than 10 minutes.

"Now I leave home at 7:30am and get back just before 5:00pm," Amelia said.

Her grandparents Karen and John Shannon who live in Huntlee say her school day, due to distance she has to travel, is more like an adult's work day.

"It is a long day for her and then she has to do her homework - we are fully supportive of the need for a high school in Huntlee, " Mr Shannon said.

Cessnock MP Clayton Barr said he can absolutely guarantee that there is land set aside for a future primary school and high school in Huntlee.

"I've been and seen the land with my own eyes, in fact there's two sites," he said.

"I don't believe the ownership of the land has been handed over just yet, but if it hasn't already, it'll be ready to hand over in a month or two."

Mr Barr said the land that has been set aside is 100 percent dedicated to the purpose of a public school.

"The Government have a responsibility to build a public school in Huntlee," he said.

Approximately 2500 people are currently living at Huntlee with an estimation of 20,000 people to live there in the future.

Rutherford Technology High School is currently the closest local high school to Huntlee, which itself is already busting at the seams.

"We simply have to build more capacity and that'll come in the form of a new school," Mr Barr said.

"People can expect in a reasonable amount of time that these new facilities will be built."