Despite being abandoned more than four years, the former Glen Devon Primary School site at Werribee still has no clear future.
Following their closure in December 2010, the Market Road school buildings were subject to repeated burglaries and became a haven for vandals. The buildings were extensively damaged by fire in late 2011 and eventually demolished in early 2012.
As of last week, the site remained derelict. It had waist-high grass and was strewn with rubbish, including dumped concrete blocks, televisions, plastic containers, shopping trolleys and prams.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said the site presented a major safety risk.
“Every week more rubbish seems to be getting dumped there,” he said.
“It’s sad. It would only take somebody to flick a match for a fire to take off.”
As reported by Star Weekly, Wyndham council and the Wyndham Community and Education Centre have campaigned for the site to be used as a community education centre.
In 2012, Werribee MP and state treasurer Tim Pallas, who was then in opposition, used his website to say: “The Wyndham community deserves to know what will happen to this site”.
Prior to last year’s election, he urged the Napthine government to act, saying, “the government must make a decision and ensure calls for it to become a community resource are met rather than ignored”.
Last week, a spokeswoman for Education Minister James Merlino said the Education Department had been asked to provide an update on the status of the site.
However, department spokesman Simon Craig said the future of the property was still yet to determined, with the department undertaking a comprehensive demographic analysis to determine long-term educational demand in the catchment area of the former school site.
“Until a decision is made on its future use, the department will continue scheduled maintenance of the site, including lawn mowing and rubbish removal,” Mr Craig said.
