Parents in Jerrabomberra, just outside of Canberra, have successfully lobbied the New South Wales government to change its controversial zoning rules for the new public high school.
Earlier this year, the NSW Education Department announced that children living in Jerrabomberra Heights would not be eligible to attend Jerrabomberra High School, which is due to open next year, or Jerrabomberra's public primary school.
Instead, the Education Department proposed that residents of the suburb's north would have to send their children to school in Queanbeyan and not their local school.
The announcement resulted in backlash from many in the community, who claimed they were not consulted on the matter and that their suburb was effectively being "divided in half".
But in April, the NSW government reversed part of that decision, scrapping changes to the enrolment boundaries for the primary school.
At a community meeting last night, officials also ditched changes to the zoning for the new high school.
'Zoning debacle was very avoidable'
President of the Jerrabomberra Public School PTA Kylie Prescott said the overall community response to the zoning reversal had been very positive.
"[We] are so relieved that the community consultation has been completed and the information that we passed on to the decision-makers has been realised," she said.
"Our community conversation has changed from 'we are devastated' to 'we are delighted'.
Ms Prescott said the Jerrabomberra community had been pushing for a local high school for more than two decades, so to learn it would only be available to half the suburb was extremely disappointing.
"We're an established community, people have been living here for over 25 years. A high school has been promised to this community for decades," she said.
She said if the NSW Education Department had sought community feedback before the announcement, the situation could have been avoided.
"The Jerrabomberra zoning debacle was really very avoidable," she said.
"If the community had been included in the consultation from the start this could have been avoided."
'They haven't brought the community along with them': MP
Member for Monaro Nichole Overall, who was elected in February following the resignation of former Nationals MP John Barilaro, said she had always supported the Jerrabomberra community's calls to be heard on the matter.
"I've met with principals and PMC members and community members to make sure that their concerns were being heard, were being addressed.
"We instigated the Community Survey only three weeks after all of this came to light because I did agree with the community that they hadn't had the opportunity to have the involvement in the consultation process."
Ms Overall said despite the surprise that many locals felt at the sudden announcement, the discussion of changes to zoning had been going on for three years, just without inviting the community to give input.
"The department had been in consultation with the principals from the schools ever since the announcement in 2019 that Jerrabomberra was to receive a new high school," she said.
"They hadn't brought the community along with them in that and so that's what I'm backing, that their voices had to be heard."
