Thursday, 9 May 2024
NORTHERN Tablelands MP Adam Marshall is calling on the State Government to take urgent action to fix the structural issues plaguing Rocky River’s historic main schoolhouse and move the students and staff from their temporary classrooms back to their much-loved building.
Mr Marshall placed a question on notice to the Education Minister in State Parliament today seeking urgent advice as to the future of the school building after 42 students and staff were moved into temporary accommodation in June 2022, with assurance from the former State Government that the building would be restored.
The MP said the Department of Education had been monitoring ground movement and structural issues at the 162-year-old education facility and unfortunately the main administration/classroom, heritage-listed building at the school was condemned and closed due to safety concerns.
“The old weatherboard structure was sliding down the slope of the school grounds,” Mr Marshall said.
“Among the many actions taken to ensure the school was able to continue operations, temporary classrooms were installed and Schools Infrastructure began a process of repairing the old building, restoring it and making it safe again to be re-opened for school use.
“This process suddenly ceased around 12 months ago and since then no-one – not me, the local Director Educational Leadership, or the Principal – has been able to get any information or clarification from Schools Infrastructure about what is going on and when the building will be repaired.
“It’s now been around two years since the temporary classrooms were installed at the school and the community deserve to know what is going to happen to the main building.”
Mr Marshall said he has been in contact with the Minister for Education Prue Car seeking an urgent review of the situation.
“The longer the wait, the more concerned the community is that they will lose this important historical building and I am calling on Government to consider all options that will allow this building to be retained as a valuable and significant part of the Rocky River community,” Mr Marshall said.
Mr Marshall’s question, placed on the Notice Paper today, is:
In relation to Rocky River Public School:
1. Have the serious structural issues in the historical main schoolhouse building been rectified yet?
2. If not, why not?
3. When will students and staff be able to move back into the main schoolhouse?