Residents, P&C criticise site for new Wee Waa High School

The town's old high school was rendered unusable by a mysterious mold-related disease at the end of 2020.

High School P&C President Merrill Johnson said the proposed site was a "drainage area" and it will take substantial engineering works to keep the new school dry.

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She said the fate of the old school, opened in just 1977, would be at the front of everyone's mind while designing the new one.

"Hopefully, they will learn from their past mistakes and they'll put a bit more engineering thought into building this new school," she said.

"It's a drainage point in town. There is a lot of water that goes through that block. The whole town's drainage system is tied up with that area. You've also got the Kamilaroi Highway running along there, so the water from that runs off it, so it will require some engineering to sort it out."

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell announced on Thursday that the government had committed to spending what she said would be tens of millions of dollars on the new school.

She estimated students would attend their first classes by the end of 2022.

Ms Mitchell rejected concerns that the new school could face the same mold problems as the old one, telling media "modern methods of construction" and appropriate drainage would mitigate the risk.

"We did look at a few [other locations], but the reason that is a preferred site really is the proximity there to the primary school, we think that will be good for the local community to have a bit of an education centre here in Wee Waa," she said.

Wee Waa resident Nigel Melbourne, a direct neighbour to the site, said he was concerned that improving drainage for the school would redirect flood water onto his block.

"If they go ahead with the development there, it's got all the potential to basically flood out the main street and all the properties above it and around it," he said

Neither Mr Melbourne nor the P&C were consulted on the choice of site, they told the Leader.

Both were concerned that the choice of site was largely about ease of development. The land is already owned by the government, they said.

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Nonetheless Mrs Johnson welcomed the announcement, and said the funding commitment meant an end to a months' long crisis for parents, teachers and students.

Wee Waa High School Principal Annabel Doust said she was confident classes could continue at the town's primary school until the new school is completed.

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"The facilities we've been provided with here are extremely satisfactory and that's probably understating it," she said.

"Some of our facilities here are better than they were in the old school. Kids are quite happy in those classrooms, we're very well-equipped with technology."

Narrabri mayor Ron Campbell also praised the actions of the government. He said the funding commitment had come in "record time".

"It's been a tough time for [the students], it's been a tough time for the teachers, but at the end of the day we have a result and it's a fantastic result," he said.

Member for Barwon Roy Butler said locals had told him they were very concerned about site selection, and that consultation had not occurred.

"We wrote to the minister on that and we received an assurance that there would be transparency and engagement, that site selection would be something discussed with the community. We've seen no evidence that that's happened," he said.

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