A $63 million plan to put Marlborough's two main colleges on one site needs to go ahead, the district's mayor says.
Photo: RNZ/Tracy Neal
The National Party has said it will be pushing the government for answers around why the plan is now under review.
National's Associate Education spokesperson Simeon Brown and Kaikōura MP Stuart Smith said the project to co-locate Marlborough Boys' College and Marlborough Girls' College was now in serious doubt.
About 100 people attended a public meeting last night in Blenheim to air their views in support of the plan going ahead, while a few spoke against it.
The plan was for the colleges to continue to operate as individual single-sex schools with separate boards of trustees, but on a single site. The announcement in 2015 came after several years of consultation around the future of Blenheim's colleges.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins said he called for a review of the case to find out why the project, announced in 2015, had taken so long to find a site.
Stuart Smith said it was no secret that site selection was the hold-up, but the reasons for the review were not clear.
"What are the terms of reference, what's the timeline and who's involved with it? We want an assurance the co-location is going ahead, subject to getting a piece of land to build it on," Mr Smith said.
The colleges are 3km apart in central Blenheim. Each has a roll of almost 1000, and since 2015 they have been working with the community on a campus design to be built through a public-private partnership.
Marlborough District Council was a key player in finding a suitable site, because of complexities around zoning, land use and the need for new infrastrcuture to support such a large development.
Mayor John Leggett said if the project went ahead it would be one of Marlborough biggest construction projects.
"It's part of our economic development. I left Marlborough Boys' College in 1972 - I go back in there now and it's the same college I left. We need it built - there's no question."
Photo: RNZ / Tracy Neal
One of the school student's parents, Kia King, wants the plan to move ahead for the sake of her three young sons.
"Especially with the push for modern learning environments where they keep telling us to prepare for the future, but how can we prepare our children for the future if we're going to separate them at that vital stage in their life, between 13 and 18."
Mr Hipkins did not attend last night's meeting, but former Labour candidate Janette Walker spoke on his behalf.
She said the minister was keen to resolve the matter, and would be considering an earlier idea of putting both colleges on one existing site.
"As of today, a new site hasn't been found and it's proved to be really problematic. He appreciates and respects that the community does have a preference for co-location," Ms Walker said.
Opposition education spokesperson Nikki Kaye said she would ask the government to release documents on the project at the stage it was at before the election.
She would support a combined decision by the minister, the ministry and the boards, but the community also had a part to play in the outcome.
"If the community can, as much as possible, get behind one (site) rather than have a divided view, then that's the greatest thing you can do," Ms Kaye said.
