A retired principal at Dubbo says he is frustrated special needs school Fairview Heights was closed only to have the current government commit to a new purpose-built facility just 20 years later.
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Glenn Morrison said a "lack of bureaucratic and political foresight" in the 1990s and the subsequent sale of the land in South Dubbo had been a blow to the students and parents of the school.
He welcomed the announcement of a new school for children with special needs, but said had Fairview Heights remained, taxpayers' money would have been saved.
Dubbo MP and Deputy Premier Troy Grant said the closure of Fairview Heights had been a decision taken by the government of the day and his government was to be held to account for decisions it had made since it came to office in 2011.
Mr Grant and Education Minister Adrian Piccoli announced on February 4 a multimillion-dollar school for students with special needs would be built on the site of Dubbo West Infants School.
Fairview Heights Public School closed at the end of 1995 and a special education unit was part of Buninyong Public School when it opened in 1996, leaving the city without a dedicated school for children with disabilities.
The NSW Department of Education sold the parcel of land in Fairview Street for $1.275 million in March 2006, during Labor's term in office that started in 1995.
Mr Morrison said he understood the closure of Fairview Heights, which met the needs of students with moderate and severe disabilities, was first mooted in 1993 or 1994.
In a letter to the editor Mr Morrison, the first principal of Buninyong Public School from 1996 to 2004, said he read the announcement from Mr Grant and Mr Piccoli with interest.
He said the special education unit was included at Buninyong when the philosophy of the day had been "integration" of students with special needs.
"Some of us believed integration was cutting costs," he said.
"The government sale of the land, the lack of bureaucratic foresight at the local and state government levels, all contributed to giving students and parents of Fairview one tremendous backhand," he said in the letter.
Mr Morrison told the Daily Liberal he would not usually write a letter to the editor.
"If the school had remained they wouldn't have had to use (taxpayer dollars) now to build a facility," he said.
"That's my frustration and I'm a little bit angry about it."
Mr Grant said he could not change the past or decisions made by the government of the time and could only deal with the present needs of the community.
"Today we are focusing on what our capacities are and meeting the needs of today," he said.
"Our government is to be held to account for the decisions made from 2011 to today."
He said he could not imagine a single taxpayer that would be unhappy with the government for providing a special needs school.
Mr Piccoli also said he was not responsible for the previous decisions.
"The Fairview site was sold off by Labor nearly 10 years ago, it was not sold by this government," he said.
"For nearly 20 years Dubbo did not have a school for specific purposes and this decision was backed by successive independent members.
"A brand new facility is a good thing - it means we can purpose-build the specialist facilities that are required for students with the most complex needs.
"This is great news for the Dubbo community."
