The convenor of the newly formed ‘Murrumbateman Primary School Working Group’ (MPSWG) said the state government needs to get behind the idea of constructing a school in a community that now has the population to sustain it.

Mr Reid said according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, around 500 children under the age of 14 live in the area.

The MPSWG has been collating numbers since its inception two months ago and estimate that the school could have 49 students in each year from kindergarten to year 6.

“I think it’s very fair to say we have a sufficient amount of people in town to have a school,” Mr Reid told the Tribune.

“From what I have seen there is a lot of enthusiasm about the prospect of a primary school in town as well.”

But a spokesperson for NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli told the Tribune there are currently no plans to build a primary school in Murrumbateman.

The spokesperson said building a school could have a detrimental effect on other schools around the Yass Valley.

“While we are aware of increasing development and population growth in the areas of Murrumbateman, Jeir, Wallaroo and Spring Range, there is not sufficient local demand from primary school-aged students to justify a new primary school, without jeopardising the viability of existing public schools in Yass,” the spokesperson said.

According to the department, bigger schools in Canberra would also limit enrolment numbers at a school in Murrumbateman.

“We know that many families have a preference for their children to attend larger schools in the ACT as this better suits family arrangements. 

“This has a significant impact on the potential number of students for a local primary school.”

But Mr Reid disagreed and said a school in Murrumbateman is a lot more appealing than one in Canberra.

“Parents bring their kids to Murrumbateman for the quiet, country lifestyle but unfortunately they have to keep taking kids to Canberra for school every day, and then often back to Canberra for lots of other things on the weekend. I know people that have just got sick of this and simply moved back there [Canberra]. A primary school in Murrumbateman would fix this.”

Mr Reid is currently waiting on the results of a survey that has been put online at www.murrumbateman.org.au and said if this returns sufficient interest in a school the matter will be pursued further. The prospect of building a private school has not been ruled out.

The department of education said they would continue to monitor the situation in Murrumbateman and said the need for school facilities will be reconsidered if there is a change to the “current and anticipated future demographic patterns”.