School zone battle heats up

Calls by Taylors Hill residents to review zoning for the area’s newest secondary school have been heard at Spring Street.

Western Metropolitan MP Bernie Finn last week raised in Parliament the concerns of local residents who have been zoned out of the new secondary school at nearby Plumpton.

The state government released the zoning boundaries for Fraser Rise Secondary College, provisionally known as Taylors Hill West Secondary College, earlier this month.

Construction started on the $35.2 million school in February.

Fraser Rise, one of 11 new suburbs in Melton, is west of Hillside and Caroline Springs and bounded by Melton Highway and Plumpton and Taylors roads.

But the new school boundaries encompass the west side of Plumpton and do not include Hillside, Taylors Hill, Sydenham or Burnside Heights.

Mr Finn relayed the concerns of Taylors Hill father Sumit Minocha, who is leading the campaign and called on Education Minister James Merlino to review the boundaries.

Mr Finn told Parliament last Wednesday the boundaries were causing “distress to residents”.

“Most of Plumpton and Rockbank are included in the zone but the needs and pleas of Taylors Hill residents for a secondary school have been ignored, despite the campaigning over many years leading to the investment that is delivering Fraser Rise Secondary College,” he said.

“We have a real problem for the people of Taylors Hill.”