SINCE the closure of the former Jindabyne Central School campus in the centre of Jindabyne, more than $200,000 worth of damage has been caused to assets left on site after the school re-located.

Now Jindabyne Public School and Jindabyne High School, the multi-million dollar education campus acquired mostly new equipment with the build and didn’t require a lot of equipment from the old site, therefore was secured away in old classrooms until the Department of Education was able to re-locate the items to schools that needed it across the state.

A NSW Police Force spokesperson said most of the vandalism included smashed windows, a broken door handle and a fire extinguisher set off in one of the classrooms which caused damage to assets.

Member for Monaro, Steve Whan, said it is disappointing to hear of the vandalism.

“There is still a lot of assets on site that the Department of Education want to re-use, including furniture and electronics, and while a lot of assets are slowly being removed and taken to other schools, unfortunately there has been some assets vandalised,” Mr Whan said.

“There are some things we can do to help the situation, such as improving the security and boarding up windows, among other things, but this is a message to parents and young people in the area, as well as the community as a whole to please respect the site.

“In terms of security on the site the Department of Education has been informed of the issue and security teams and Jindabyne Police have been contacted and discussions had about how we can make sure there is good security to avoid anymore vandalism.

“We are trying to avoid putting up a big fence around the block, but we need to try to make sure the site is safe and there is no more vandalism.”

A flurry of activity has taken place on the site over the past few weeks as assets have begun to be moved and shipped away, however, the more permanent structures are expected to sit on site until decisions are made on what will happen to the area.

Mr Whan said determining what happens to the site is going to be a long process and in the interim Council has been contacted in regards to community use of the hall.

“I was contacted by members of the community who were keen to see the hall be used for young people and the community and after speaking with the Snowy Monaro Regional Council the process is underway to make that happen,” Mr Whan said.

“The Department of Education will allow Council to have access to the hall for the community while still contining its maintenance which makes it cheaper for Council to take over.

“We would love to see some community use of the hall as that will mean there is an asset there for people to use and means there will be people there on site and it won’t sit empty as well as discourages vandalism.

“If there is other interest of assets that the community would be interested in using, such as the library, I would love to hear from them.”

Mr Whan said while this is only a short term offer, as the whole site will be re-developed, it will take a while for the process of transfer from the education department as well as the government deciding whether they want the site for any other use such as government housing or if its sold to a developer.

“There has already been consultation for the master plan of the area, the community has already seen the potential for what could be built on that area which includes seniors living, accommodation and apartments,” Mr Whan said.

“We have been attempting to meet a couple of needs that were identified from the community through the consultation period, there were concerns of the height on the blocks of apartments and that was rectified to ensure they didn’t impact views from surrounding residents.

“As we go forward in terms of the future use of the site, all new proposals would have to go to consultation as well but I will keep the community informed on what is happening with the site in the meantime and of any further consultations.”

There are no current investigations as all matters have been investigated and no people of interest have been able to be identified.

A NSW Police Force spokesperson said police are conducting patrols of the site and investigating any reports that come in in an attempt to identify offenders, they are working with Department of Education on security strategies for the location.

Police encourage everyone to report any suspicious behaviour when it is occurring.

Crime or suspicious activity can be reported through Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 or to Police Assistance Line on 131444 or to the nearest police station.