Broadwater school community, Clarence MP Richie Williamson launch petition to end limbo for new school

Students and parents in a North Coast town have been in limbo for years as they wait for a school to be rebuilt after it was hit by the 2022 floods. Now – they have banded together to slam the “alarmingly slow” pace of construction.

Broadwater Public School remains in a state of disrepair post the 2022 floods

Students and parents in northern NSW town of Broadwater, near Ballina, have been stuck in limbo for almost two years as they wait for their local school to be rebuilt after it was devastated by the 2022 floods.

School facilities in the lower Richmond Valley were smashed during the floods, with both Woodburn’s St Joseph Primary and Broadwater Public School rendered unusable.

Now the Broadwater community is voicing their frustration at the slow pace of the rebuild.

Clarence Nationals MP Richie Williamson with Emma Crethar outside Broadwater Public School.

Emma Crethar, the secretary of the Broadwater Public School P & C association, described the progress as “alarmingly slow”. She said the abandoned and overgrown school ground serves as a constant reminder of the devastation caused by the 2022 floods.

“We were told at the first community consultation meeting that the maximum time we’d be out of our school would be two years,” Ms Crethar said.

“We are now at the second anniversary of the floods and still to have no government approvals in place or a firm commencement date. It’s a real slap in the face.”

Broadwater Public School was hit hard by the 2022 floods. The blue line indicates the height the flood waters reached.

Clarence Nationals MP Richie Williamson said “bureaucratic bungling” was to blame for the slow rebuild and has launched a petition demanding the NSW Department of Education speed up the pace of the rebuild.

“I have already contacted the Minister for Education, Ms Prue Car, and asked her to intervene,” he said.

“It should be obvious that this is an urgent problem that can be fixed with a simple order from the Minister. Having as many locals as possible to sign the petition will hopefully get the message through.”

Signing the petition to rebuild the school.

Mr Williamson said the project could be completed in just eight weeks but it had been slowed by School Infrastructure NSW’s decision to lodge a development application (DA) with Richmond Valley Council.

However, a spokeswoman from the department of education said the claim the school could be built in eight weeks was not correct.

“After the DA is approved by the Richmond Valley Council, the site works and installation of the school are expected to take approximately six months, weather permitting,” she said.

“After analysis by statutory planners, the DA process has been identified as the most appropriate planning pathway to build the school back as quickly as possible due to the risk of delay in other planning pathways.”

Artist impression of what the rebuilt school could look like. Picture: NSW Department of Education.

The DA for the reconstruction of the school has already been lodged with council.

Under current plans, the new school building will sit above the one in 500 year flood level, which is higher than the 2022 flood waters reached.

The “elevated” level of the new school will contain the school’s office spaces, staffroom, library, classrooms and canteen while storage rooms will be on the ground level.

The new school facilities are currently being constructed off site and will be craned into place.

Artist impression of Broadwater Public School as lodged with Richmond Valley Council in March 2024.

In a statement, a Department of Education confirmed the onsite works on the school will commence when the DA is approved.

“As communicated to the school community at the end of February, we expect these works to take approximately six months, weather permitting,” she said.

“These works include demolition of the existing school, followed by civil works (foundation and groundwork) and installation of essential services (electrical, plumbing, etc.). When ready, the new school building will be delivered and installed.”

Locals can have a say about the current DA, which is on public exhibition until April 5, by visiting the Richmond Valley Council website.