Focus group seeking support for school
Petition for high school edging to 1000
THE group demanding the State Government builds a new high school in Toowoomba’s south-west corridor will ask 6000 residents this week for their support.
The Westbrook Focus Group will send out 6000 flyers to residents across the western strip of Toowoomba, calling for them to sign an online petition by Condamine MP Pat Weir asking the Palaszczuk Government to investigate the idea.
Group president Jamie Cooper, who said the growing area needed a new school, hoped to take the petition to 1000 signatures before it closed on May 11.
“We printed 6000 flyers and we got them printed and distributed to Westbrook, Cambooya, Wyreema, the surrounding areas,” he said.
“At this stage, we’ve got nearly 800 signatures – we were hoping for 1000.
“We’re not that far away, and considering we’ve got about 10,000 people in the surrounding areas, we are hoping for the surrounding areas to support this.”
Mr Cooper launched a campaign for better services and infrastructure to Westbrook earlier this year, saying the community deserved an aquatic centre and library as part of a commitment from the government.
Mr Weir launched the petition in February, but Education Minister Grace Grace slapped it down during Question Time last month.
“Current QGSO forecasts on enrolment data indicate that there is sufficient capacity in the existing network of schools to meet projected growth in the Toowoomba area in the short to mediumterm,” the response read.
Mr Cooper said the government wasn’t accounting for future growth, including the new 1500-lot Fernleigh housing estate currently before the Toowoomba Regional Council.
Go to parliament.qld.gov.au/ work-of-assembly/petitions/ petition -details?id=2857.