Premier Peter Malinauskas says he’ll look into the situation surrounding the site choice of the new Mount Barker school, following a large community outcry over the original suggestion.
Popular Aston Hills eatery Wok The Duck took to social media last Thursday, after they had been notified that their site was being acquired for a new $61 million dollar primary/pre-school.
In the video, David Keir is standing with his daughter and co-owner Ebony Moyle and her husband Dan Moyle, saying they were contacted by state government representatives and told the restaurant would need to make way for the project.
“We sold our family home to build Wok The Duck,” the team wrote in a social media post accompanying the video.
“We’ve poured our hearts into this place, and now the State Government wants to take it away.”
Following thousands of signatures in a petition started by the Wok The Duck owners, Malinauskas says that the process will be paused temporarily, in order to give him time to get up to speed and evaluate after being away on planned leave.
The Premier did however state that there were no guarantees that the site would be changed, with the 16 sites also considered said to have their own barriers and drawbacks.
Shadow Minister for Education Heidi Girolamo welcomed the Premier’s decision to pause the school development, but says consultation on the project should have begun many months ago – not after an announcement has been made.
“Mount Barker desperately needs a new school and it is deeply disappointing that Labor has completely botched the planning process,” Ms Girolamo said.
“We’ve already had timeline blowouts for this school and now the project has been paused while the Government tries to unscramble the egg it dropped onto David and his Wok the Duck team.”
Listen below to Independent Member for Kavel Matt Schultz speaking on the update, as part of ARN’s Around SA with Chris Guscott:
