25-06-2025
Mouldy Broken Hill high school rebuild closer after state budget allocation
The New South Wales government has reaffirmed its plan for a state-of-the-art secondary school in the state's far west, allocating more than $55 million towards the project in the latest state budget.
Broken Hill's Willyama High School has been closed for more than 18 months due to a significant mould outbreak, with the state government marking it for demolition and rebuild.
Construction crews and equipment are now on site and demolition is expected to begin soon but, until recently, the rebuild plans have been contentious.
A Willyama P&C group formed this year led several local concerns, including inadequate classroom layouts and limited learning resources.
But president Kirby Allen, whose son will start year 7 at Willyama next year, said these issues seemed to have been addressed in a redesign released to the community last week.
"In comparison to what was shown in March, it's bigger [and] laid out a lot better," Ms Allen said.
"It was very evident that the feedback has been taken on board. Everyone's happy it's going in the right direction."
The formal consultation process for the new school design is believed to be finished and the rebuild is likely to be put out to tender in the coming weeks.
The government plans to begin construction early next year and have the school open to more than 730 students by early 2027.
While the rebuild has been more than a year in the making the government has now allocated $56.4 million of the 2025-'26 state budget to it.
Barwon MP Roy Butler said this would not cover the whole build, but it was government practice to stagger funding for major infrastructure projects.
"I think by the time we actually finish it, you're probably looking at $100 million to build that school."
The Department of Education's Far West Director of Educational Leadership, Peter Macbeth, said he looked forward to working with the community on a school everyone could be proud of.
"It's a really exciting and incredible thing for the community and it's gaining lots of positive momentum," Mr Macbeth said.
