West Tamar councillors seek input on proposed Legana school

West Tamar councillors Tim Woinarski and Peter Kearney, who have been involved in the project for nine years, say the council has not received a briefing from the state government yet.

The pair were instrumental in advocating for the school and said it had the potential to be a world-class educational institution.

"There is a buzz in the community...people are wondering when it's coming and what's happening with it," Councillor Woinarski said.

Community consultation on the project has been led by the Education Department and has not involved the council. The consultation period opened in February and recently closed.

Last week, Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the department had received more than 300 submissions about the school.

The submissions have not been made public but will be used to inform a master plan for the proposed school.

Councillor Woinarski, who lives at Legana, said there was a growing groundswell of interest among the community about the school.

"As the council, we are the closest to the community, so it's important that we are across all of the decisions made," he said.

Councillor Kearney said he had raised the issue of transparency in the past and believed immediate decisions needed to be made.

"At the moment all the planning at Legana is built around real estate subdivisions and this is not what its all about," he said.

"There is an urgent need for decisions about the school; what kind of place is it going to be?"

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Councillor Kearney said decisions needed to be made about whether the school was only a primary school or if expansion was factored into the plan, as that impacted things like potential sites.

The state government has in the past earmarked sites for the proposed school but no decisions have been made on a final location.

Both councillors said the school could be the heart of the community if it was done right and served its purpose.

Councillor Woinarski said he did not mind waiting for the school to be built, as long as the right checks and balances were in place.

"I am a firm believer that it's better to take time and get things right the first time if that means waiting an extra 12 months," he said.

The new $20 million school is expected to be completed by 2024 and will service 350 students from kindergarten to grade 6.