By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
THE State Government will demolish the derelict Endeavour Hills Secondary College buildings as soon as possible after a suspicious fire ripped through the abandoned facility last year, and a local councillor slammed rampant graffiti at the site.
A 14-year-old Cranbourne boy has been charged with arson and a 15-year-old from Endeavour Hills arrested in relation to the fire which ripped through the abandoned Endeavour Hills Secondary College gym last November.
The Cranbourne boy, who was arrested in January, appeared in court earlier this month and was bailed to appear again in May.
The Endeavour Hills boy was released without charge.
A person was seen fleeing the fire around 11.30pm on Thursday 20 November at the former high school building, which the City of Casey has a partial stake in.
Fourteen trucks attended the blaze, which took at least an hour to bring under control and a further three hours to extinguish completely.
The charge come as Casey council resolved last Tuesday to write to the State Government in a plea for help to stop rampant vandalism at the derelict school site.
Four Oaks councillor Rafal Kaplon moved a motion last Tuesday night for the City of Casey to write to Education Minister James Merlino expressing its concerns about vandalism at the disused facility.
This week Deputy Premier Merlino said he had asked the Department of Education to organise the “demolition” of the former college’s buildings as a “matter of urgency.”
The minister’s response comes as Casey Councillor Rafal Kaplon slammed the Department for having “done nothing” with the site in the last two years.
“The community has expectations which the department is not meeting, it is no longer good enough to simply close a school, let it fall apart and pose real safety issues for surrounding houses – there has already been a fire which destroyed the gymnasium and posed a risk to surrounding homes,” Cr Kaplon told the News.
“More importantly this is just a tip of the iceberg, there are many more similar closed schools sites across Casey and Victoria which cause surrounding communities to become run down and an eye sore – it is time the Victorian Government reconsidered its current policy on how to handle condemned or closed down schools.”
Mr Kaplon said previous requests on behalf of council to rent out the buildings had been knocked back by the Department.
As part of its motion council will write to Casey police Inspector Paul Breen about its concerns, and Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan and Holt MP Anthony Byrne will also be drawn on for support.
On a recent visit to the disused buildings Cr Kaplon said he was shocked by the vandalism and dumped rubbish at the site.
His fellow Four Oaks councillor Rosalie Crestani said the vandalism may already equate to “thousands, if not millions of dollars’ worth of damage.”
Low enrolments led to the closure of Endeavour Hills Secondary College in 2012, one of the smallest and oldest high schools in the region.
In July Labor pledged to provide Hallam Senior College’s Sports Academy with partial access to the old campus if it won the state election.
