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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy and Tamsin Rose

A growing NSW town, a $71m unbuilt high school and the ‘absolute epitome of short-term politics’

A composite of Bungendore high school (on the left) and an artist impression of the proposed new high school (on the right)
A new school was announced for Bungendore in 2020 by former NSW deputy premier and member for Monaro, John Barilaro, and has left the community divided ever since. Composite: NSW Department of Education/Stuart Gregory

In 2020, when then New South Wales deputy premier and member for Monaro, John Barilaro, announced the site for a new $71m high school in the middle of a regional town’s heritage precinct, he conceded the location would come as a “surprise” to residents.

And it did. It was announced a new high school would be built by January 2023 on the site of the only park in Bungendore – 30 minutes’ drive east of Canberra – requiring the demolition of its pool, community centre and council offices. The school would deal with the area’s projected population growth and shorten the commute of students, some of whom faced more than two hours’ travel a day.

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