To Martin Dixon, MP, Victorian Minister of Education
Whilst the Ballerrt Mooroop College (BMC) committee were planning to improve their current programs and further meet the needs of Victorian Indigenous educationally disengaged children and youths, the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) and the Glenroy Specialist School (GSS) were holding meetings to not only poach BMC's adjacent sporting and the community open-space reserves, but to bulldoze the school's cultural precinct and the multi purpose Gymnasium / 'Gathering Place'.
BMC was not properly consulted throughout this process, in fact, were not told of the plans at the beginning of the process at all.
Following the protest by BMC a mediation process between GSS and BMC was put into place and a 'compromised draft plan' was being developed between the two schools. The Victorian Government through DEECD completely undermined the mediation process and outcomes and ordered the GSS original plan to be built while BMC were waiting to discuss the issue with you, which your department was well aware of.
We request that work on the building is stopped immediately and proper consultations are put into place with all parties, including local residents, who are losing their valued open-space recreational land. Many local residents have advised us that they don't like the way the DEECD is seen to have set up one disadvantaged group against the other.
We also request a meeting with you to further explain our situation.
Go here to sign the petition:
http://www.ballerrtmooroop.org/node/77
