Future of The School
For many, the move to Royal Oaks is a definitive although several factors question the sustainability of the new location. According to the Department of Education, Royal Oaks was the best of all 20 scouted locations because of anticipated population change, existing community amenities, community school use, catchment area, accessibility of the site, available utilities, community amenities and transportation strategies.
However, it is difficult to understand what the Province is thinking here. To begin, the City of Moncton has stated that the Royal Oaks area is not projected to have any increase in population. Moreover, the land where the school is being constructed is 8 km from the centre, in a wooded area, is not serviced by either city amenities and requires the construction of new roads, sewers and water lines. As stated in the O'Shaughnessy Report, the current location is the most central for all MHS students.
In addition, all students attending the school will have to be bused. Codiac Transit, the City's public transportation service has stated that it would not service Royal Oaks. There are no sidewalks leading to the school from downtown, and virtually all those attending or working in the school would have to use their cars or attend on a school bus. To this day, there are no plans for any service to bring students downtown to doctor or other appointment, which would imply that parents would have to take time off work in order to pick-up and drop off their kids. A taxi costs approximately $25 each way. Parents opposed to the move could move their children into other downtown High Schools such as Harrison Trimble or Bernice MacNaughton.
In addition, the displacement of the school would certainly impact a very development of the downtown, and would limit the utility of the new downtown Museum of Transportation, a $30 million investment by the City of Moncton, located within walking distance of MHS. Moving public services to the edge of City property will also encourage residents to move outside city limits, thereby losing tax revenues and promoting the extension of city services to lower population densities. In short, moving the school to the edge of City limits would promote urban sprawl, while asphyxiating the downtown.
Read more about this topic: Moncton High School
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