Ōmokoroa Point School principal Sandra Portegys. Photo / Alex Cairns
Families, principals and politicians are “delighted” construction of two “hugely needed” new schools will begin next year in a fast-growing Western Bay community.
Minister of Education and Tauranga-based MP Jan Tinetti said this week the primary school and secondary school - both to be located on the corner of Prole Rd and Ōmokoroa Rd - would cater to more than 1100 students.
The announcement comes after construction has started on a $23.5 million roading project that will allow the development of 2500 new homes in Ōmokoroa.
The primary school would initially provide 350 places for Year 1–6 students, with the capacity to expand the roll to 550. Meanwhile, the secondary school would cater to 800 Year 7-13 students but could grow to a roll of 1200.
Tinetti said the Ministry of Education would call for nominations for an establishment board. This was expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.
The board would work with the community to develop the vision and values for the schools and determine how they will operate. It would also work with the community and Ngāti Ranginui to establish names.
Dan Hesson’s children - Lily, 10, and Spencer, 12 - both attend Ōmokoroa Point School.
The Ōmokoroa dad, who has lived in the area for seven years, described the news as “really positive”.
“It makes sense to have a local secondary school and another primary school given the amount of traffic.”
It was unfortunate neither of his children would attend the secondary school, saying they were not the right age. His son would commute into the city to attend Tauranga Boys’ College.
“My kids, age-wise, are not ideal for it. They will be gone before it is completed which is a real shame. By then they would have formed bonds with other kids and won’t want to move.”
Western Bay of Plenty mayor James Denyer said the two schools were an integral part of the future of Ōmokoroa and its predicted population.
He said the announcement would be reassuring for the growing number of young families living in Ōmokoroa with school-age children.
Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller said he was “delighted” to hear construction would start next year and praised the hard work of community members who petitioned for another secondary school back in 2018.
The secondary school was “hugely needed” so students did not have to commute to Tauranga, he said.
“We took it [the petition] to Wellington and argued for new schools in Ōmokoroa - particularly a secondary school. It’s one of the projects I have been pushing.”
“It’s just so bloody exciting.”
Principal of Ōmokoroa No 1 School Craig Pentecost said right now the facilities were at “bursting point” which only highlighted the need for more schools.
He expected to open two more new entrant classes this year which was “unheard of” for the school.
One would start in the library next term due to lack of classroom space, he said.
“We haven’t got a classroom for them to go to - so they go into the library. It becomes a teaching space which isn’t ideal for those children.
“The rapid growth is really hard to keep on top of because we constantly have families that are moving into Ōmokoroa.”
The school expected to have two new modular classrooms onsite by Term 4 which would ease pressure on their facilities, he said.
Pentecost was excited the schools were planned to open from 2026, saying it would mean secondary students living in the area would not need to commute to and from Tauranga.
Right now the commute on buses could take up to an hour and a half to get to school, he said.
Ōmokoroa Point School principal Sandra Portegys said once the secondary school opened it was “very likely” the primary would no longer be zoned to take on Year 7/8 students.
She said the school experienced “exponential growth” about two years ago which put “massive pressure” on its facilities.
But overall she saw growth in a positive light, saying it had changed the make-up of their community.
“We have got people joining our school from all around the country. It’s created a really vibrant and diverse community which is a positive thing.”
Ōmokoroa Residents and Ratepayers Association chairman Bruce McCabe said the new schools would help alleviate the “serious traffic problem” for residents travelling to and from Tauranga.
“It is chewing up a lot of people’s time - so from our perspective to avoid an increasing traffic problem - we need those two schools as soon as possible.”
McCabe said more planning needed to be done so that Ōmokoroa moved away from being a “dormitory suburb” to one where people could live and work.
Pirirākau hapū representative Koro Nicholas said they had been involved in consultation with the ministry “from the start” to plan the new schools.
He said the hapū was supportive of the development but wanted to know more about the “ethos” behind the schools.
“That has been one of our big ongoing questions,” he said.
“The main things that have been coming from our hapū is that people are connecting to the land they are living on, connecting to its story and to each other. Those have been some really strong themes from our elders and rangatahi,” he said.
Ministry of Education Te Tai Whenua (central) hautū (leader) Jocelyn Mikaere said the plan was to open the two new schools from 2026.
Two processes would be undertaken by the ministry in 2024 and 2025 before the opening, she said.
The first would be a consultation on the proposal to change the surrounding primary schools to Year 1-6 contributing primary schools. This would mean all students from Year 7 to 13 would attend the secondary school, she said.
She said the second process would be a consultation on new enrolment schemes, including home zones, for the new schools.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council deputy chief executive and infrastructure group general manager Gary Allis said Ōmokoroa has been identified as an area for achieving much-needed housing by SmartGrowth.
He said it was estimated to be home to 13,000 residents by 2050.
The council had been working on several infrastructure projects, including roading, recreation, cycleways, stormwater, building and planning for several years, he said.
“The total projects are estimated to cost up to $110 million. We’ve secured approximately $64m of this projected cost from government grants and subsidies to support the housing development, the new Ministry of Education schools, new Ōmokoroa Town Centre and other public amenities,” Allis said.
A further $14m was co-funded by the Government under its Shovel Ready Infrastructure Reference Group, he said.
Over the past two years council had completed several “key infrastructure projects” such as the Ōmokoroa Rd urbanisation (Western to Tralee) and Western Ave urbanisation totalling to $10m.
He said the predicted population growth meant placing a “big importance” on ensuring Ōmokoroa’s growth was managed correctly.
The council had made sure Ōmokoroa was designed with an “integrated walking and cycling network both on and off road”. This provided a safe cycling option to reduce vehicular traffic, he said.
He said plan change 92 continued to progress this year and provided for necessary rezoning and structure planning to further the “live work play” opportunities for Ōmokoroa.
“In addition to the intensification changes, we’re providing for growth with additional industrial land, a new Natural Open Space Zone to protect the gullies, and a large active reserve across from the planned new primary and secondary school,” he said.
“We’ve also been working closely with developers within Ōmokoroa for several years to co-ordinate and plan for this growth.”