Lismore City News
Saturday, 2 December 2023

Lismore Council general manager indicates Richmond River High won't reopen

David Kirkpatrick
Updated May 31 2022 - 1:47pm, first published 12:00am

UPDATED 27/5: The NSW Department of Education has issued a response after Lismore City Council general manager said at a public meeting on Monday it was "unlikely" Richmond River high would comeback.

School Infrastructure NSW said it will hold a school community information session for the Richmond River High Campus community in coming weeks. No firm dates have been given.

The information session will provide the community with updates on the extent of damage at the school, the rebuild of buildings, timelines and upcoming community engagement activities.

In a statement it said the whole Richmond River High Campus was damaged by flood waters and was still closed for cleaning and remediation.

The Richmond River High Campus has been made safe. The school has been cleaned, walls and classrooms have been stripped out and the site has been secured.

"Planning and due diligence is underway to understand the scope of work required to rebuild the school and to meet local needs for permanent education infrastructure," the statement read.

Due to the extent of damage, students will continue to learn from the Lismore High Campus, with a temporary "pop-up" on the site.

The local School Infrastructure NSW office has inspected all schools in flood-impacted areas and has removed rubbish, cleaned and secured affected sites to ensure they are safe. Teams are repairing and remediating schools that were damaged during the foods and assessing works needed to rebuild the worst affected schools.

"Where possible, students are learning at their usual school sites, while some schools have been relocated to alternative sites so that their learning can continue while school repairs or rebuild works are underway," the statement said.

"We thank you for your patience during this important program of work. We will continue to share information with you as work progresses."

ORIGINAL STORY: Lismore City Council general manager John Walker has revealed that is "unlikely" Richmond River High will come back.

Defence personnel clean up at Richmond River High. Picture: ADF
Defence personnel clean up at Richmond River High. Picture: ADF

The high school was severely damaged in the February 28 floods and students and teachers have been moved to a temporary campus.

Mr Walker, who sits on most of the flood recovery bodies, responded to a question from a local teacher at Monday night's forum into Lismore's land use management strategy.

He said it was It was "unlikely" Richmond River High could "really come back in its current form".

"We are comforted that Trinity is indicating very, very strongly that they will stay in the CBD," Mr Walker said.

"We think that is essential for a CBD to have those sorts of schools.

"But Richmond River I think is precariously placed."

The potential closure of the school has yet to be confirmed by the Department of Education.

The department has been contacted for comment about this story.

David Kirkpatrick

I'm a media professional with over 34 years of experience in public relations and journalism, including a decade setting Lismore's news agenda as the editor of The Northern Star. I have proven track record in growing audiences and improving engagement by delivering quality local stories for and about the Lismore community.