Latest news with #ClaytonBarr
The Advertiser
13-08-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
'An exciting time': first look at Huntlee's new schools
Newly released renderings provide a first look at the soon-to-be-built high school, primary school and public preschool that will serve the booming township of Huntlee. The schools' catchment, which also includes Branxton, North Rothbury, is one of the fastest growing parts of the Hunter and Central Coast. Scheduled to open Day 1, Term 1 2028, the new schools will cater for up to 1500 students - 500 in the primary school and 1,000 in the high school - with a co-located public preschool providing places for up to 120 children per week. The schools will be located on adjoining sites along Persoonia Boulevard in North Rothbury. The new facilities will be designed to meet the evolving needs of the community. The primary school will feature 27 classrooms, including dedicated spaces for specialist support classes. Site preparation works for the new high school began last month. It will have 54 classrooms, specialist support facilities, and Vocational Education and Training (VET) facilities, including a kitchen and workshop for students keen to develop skills in the construction and food services industries - both thriving sectors in the Hunter. Students and the broader community will benefit from modern school halls at both sites, as well as new sports and play facilities. "As the Branxton, North Rothbury and surrounding communities grow, the Minns Labor government is building schools that grow with them," Acting Minister for Education and Early Learning Courtney Houssos said. "These new schools will provide state-of-the-art learning environments for 1,500 local students, right in the heart of this growing Hunter community, after the former Liberal-National government left the community without a single new public school." Plans for the project will be placed on public exhibition in the coming months. The new school is part of a record $9 billion investment by the for school infrastructure in the 2025-26 NSW budget, which includes $2.1 billion for new and upgraded schools in regional NSW. "This is an exciting time for community members as they get their first look at designs of the new public preschool, primary and high school, which will provide the basis for education for the growing area of North Rothbury, Greta and Branxton," Member for Cessnock Clayton Barr said. "This is a huge investment in education for the area and forms part of the Minns Labor Government's commitment to rebuilding public education by delivering funding for new and upgraded schools to serve our growing communities, especially in regional NSW." Huntlee is eventually expected to house 20,000 people. The 2021 Census showed the area's population had grown from 900 to 2300 in five years. The 25-year project, due for completion around 2040, will be comparable in size to Singleton. Newly released renderings provide a first look at the soon-to-be-built high school, primary school and public preschool that will serve the booming township of Huntlee. The schools' catchment, which also includes Branxton, North Rothbury, is one of the fastest growing parts of the Hunter and Central Coast. Scheduled to open Day 1, Term 1 2028, the new schools will cater for up to 1500 students - 500 in the primary school and 1,000 in the high school - with a co-located public preschool providing places for up to 120 children per week. The schools will be located on adjoining sites along Persoonia Boulevard in North Rothbury. The new facilities will be designed to meet the evolving needs of the community. The primary school will feature 27 classrooms, including dedicated spaces for specialist support classes. Site preparation works for the new high school began last month. It will have 54 classrooms, specialist support facilities, and Vocational Education and Training (VET) facilities, including a kitchen and workshop for students keen to develop skills in the construction and food services industries - both thriving sectors in the Hunter. Students and the broader community will benefit from modern school halls at both sites, as well as new sports and play facilities. "As the Branxton, North Rothbury and surrounding communities grow, the Minns Labor government is building schools that grow with them," Acting Minister for Education and Early Learning Courtney Houssos said. "These new schools will provide state-of-the-art learning environments for 1,500 local students, right in the heart of this growing Hunter community, after the former Liberal-National government left the community without a single new public school." Plans for the project will be placed on public exhibition in the coming months. The new school is part of a record $9 billion investment by the for school infrastructure in the 2025-26 NSW budget, which includes $2.1 billion for new and upgraded schools in regional NSW. "This is an exciting time for community members as they get their first look at designs of the new public preschool, primary and high school, which will provide the basis for education for the growing area of North Rothbury, Greta and Branxton," Member for Cessnock Clayton Barr said. "This is a huge investment in education for the area and forms part of the Minns Labor Government's commitment to rebuilding public education by delivering funding for new and upgraded schools to serve our growing communities, especially in regional NSW." Huntlee is eventually expected to house 20,000 people. The 2021 Census showed the area's population had grown from 900 to 2300 in five years. The 25-year project, due for completion around 2040, will be comparable in size to Singleton. Newly released renderings provide a first look at the soon-to-be-built high school, primary school and public preschool that will serve the booming township of Huntlee. The schools' catchment, which also includes Branxton, North Rothbury, is one of the fastest growing parts of the Hunter and Central Coast. Scheduled to open Day 1, Term 1 2028, the new schools will cater for up to 1500 students - 500 in the primary school and 1,000 in the high school - with a co-located public preschool providing places for up to 120 children per week. The schools will be located on adjoining sites along Persoonia Boulevard in North Rothbury. The new facilities will be designed to meet the evolving needs of the community. The primary school will feature 27 classrooms, including dedicated spaces for specialist support classes. Site preparation works for the new high school began last month. It will have 54 classrooms, specialist support facilities, and Vocational Education and Training (VET) facilities, including a kitchen and workshop for students keen to develop skills in the construction and food services industries - both thriving sectors in the Hunter. Students and the broader community will benefit from modern school halls at both sites, as well as new sports and play facilities. "As the Branxton, North Rothbury and surrounding communities grow, the Minns Labor government is building schools that grow with them," Acting Minister for Education and Early Learning Courtney Houssos said. "These new schools will provide state-of-the-art learning environments for 1,500 local students, right in the heart of this growing Hunter community, after the former Liberal-National government left the community without a single new public school." Plans for the project will be placed on public exhibition in the coming months. The new school is part of a record $9 billion investment by the for school infrastructure in the 2025-26 NSW budget, which includes $2.1 billion for new and upgraded schools in regional NSW. "This is an exciting time for community members as they get their first look at designs of the new public preschool, primary and high school, which will provide the basis for education for the growing area of North Rothbury, Greta and Branxton," Member for Cessnock Clayton Barr said. "This is a huge investment in education for the area and forms part of the Minns Labor Government's commitment to rebuilding public education by delivering funding for new and upgraded schools to serve our growing communities, especially in regional NSW." Huntlee is eventually expected to house 20,000 people. The 2021 Census showed the area's population had grown from 900 to 2300 in five years. The 25-year project, due for completion around 2040, will be comparable in size to Singleton. Newly released renderings provide a first look at the soon-to-be-built high school, primary school and public preschool that will serve the booming township of Huntlee. The schools' catchment, which also includes Branxton, North Rothbury, is one of the fastest growing parts of the Hunter and Central Coast. Scheduled to open Day 1, Term 1 2028, the new schools will cater for up to 1500 students - 500 in the primary school and 1,000 in the high school - with a co-located public preschool providing places for up to 120 children per week. The schools will be located on adjoining sites along Persoonia Boulevard in North Rothbury. The new facilities will be designed to meet the evolving needs of the community. The primary school will feature 27 classrooms, including dedicated spaces for specialist support classes. Site preparation works for the new high school began last month. It will have 54 classrooms, specialist support facilities, and Vocational Education and Training (VET) facilities, including a kitchen and workshop for students keen to develop skills in the construction and food services industries - both thriving sectors in the Hunter. Students and the broader community will benefit from modern school halls at both sites, as well as new sports and play facilities. "As the Branxton, North Rothbury and surrounding communities grow, the Minns Labor government is building schools that grow with them," Acting Minister for Education and Early Learning Courtney Houssos said. "These new schools will provide state-of-the-art learning environments for 1,500 local students, right in the heart of this growing Hunter community, after the former Liberal-National government left the community without a single new public school." Plans for the project will be placed on public exhibition in the coming months. The new school is part of a record $9 billion investment by the for school infrastructure in the 2025-26 NSW budget, which includes $2.1 billion for new and upgraded schools in regional NSW. "This is an exciting time for community members as they get their first look at designs of the new public preschool, primary and high school, which will provide the basis for education for the growing area of North Rothbury, Greta and Branxton," Member for Cessnock Clayton Barr said. "This is a huge investment in education for the area and forms part of the Minns Labor Government's commitment to rebuilding public education by delivering funding for new and upgraded schools to serve our growing communities, especially in regional NSW." Huntlee is eventually expected to house 20,000 people. The 2021 Census showed the area's population had grown from 900 to 2300 in five years. The 25-year project, due for completion around 2040, will be comparable in size to Singleton.
ABC News
06-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Power companies should pay compensation for blackouts, NSW parliamentary report finds
Electricity companies that breach their licenses should be forced to compensate customers, an inquiry into a prolonged blackout in Far West New South Wales has found. On the night of October 16 2024 seven transmission towers were knocked out when a severe storm hit the region. One of the two emergency diesel generators was not in service and the other was not operating at full capacity. As a result thousands of Broken Hill residents experienced persistent outages and the Wilcannia, Menindee, Tibooburra and White Cliffs communities were blacked out for weeks. Yesterday the state parliament's Committee on Environment and Planning handed down its report into the incident. Twenty recommendations were made, including allowing the electricity pricing regulator to order a network operator in contravention of its licence to compensate affected customers. The report found Broken Hill electricity supplier Transgrid failed to notify any government agency, regulator or council about the inoperable backup generator. But it also found there was "no clear legal obligation for Transgrid to proactively inform" any regulatory or government body about the situation. The inquiry also examined renewable energy sources in the region, including a large-scale battery system that was unable to be used to provide electricity locally. "It is nuts that you've got all that electricity generation in your own neighbourhood but you can't access it," committee chair Clayton Barr said. "If you're producing electricity in your own backyard and the power goes out, why can't you access it? "That's all a commercial and private business arrangement and it failed the community enormously." Microgrid backup systems for small towns where also suggested, which Mr Barr described as a "no-brainer". Broken Hill mayor Tom Kennedy said the community hoped the report would lead to accountability. "It can have devastating effects for a community … simply because there wasn't enough [redundancy] and power available for Broken Hill in a case of an emergency situation where we had a blackout," he said. "These recommendations will – or are attempting to – ensure this doesn't happen again and doesn't happen … anywhere in the state and, if it does happen, someone is held to account." The Australian Energy Regulator and the Indendent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal are also conducting inquiries into the event. A Transgrid spokesperson said the company was "closely examining the findings and recommendations" of the report. "Transgrid also acknowledges the significant impacts the resulting outage had on the local community," they said. "We have been working with the community and local businesses to assist in the recovery, both through financial assistance in partnership with the NSW government as well as extensive community grants programs."
The Advertiser
13-05-2025
- Health
- The Advertiser
'Putting an end to doubts and naysayers': hospital building set to start
Construction is set to begin on the $138 million Cessnock Hospital redevelopment. The Minns government said the project would begin "in the coming months", with builder Hansen Yuncken appointed after a tender process. Cessnock MP Clayton Barr said many people thought the idea of a new Cessnock hospital was "too good to be true". "But here we are signing contracts and making dreams come true," Mr Barr said. He said the Labor government was "putting an end to all doubts and naysayers". "Before we know it, we will have shovels on site and a brand new hospital rising out of the ground. I can't wait." The project includes a new acute services building with an expanded emergency department, operating theatre, day surgery spaces and two new inpatient wards. It also includes a sterilising services unit, a new medical imaging service and a modern pharmacy. Construction is expected to be complete in 2027. The hospital will continue to operate during the construction period, with "minimal disruption to staff, patients and the community". The project recently gained planning approval and was "shaped by feedback from the community throughout planning and design". Minister for Regional Health Ryan Park said "the appointment of the builder marks a key milestone". "The new acute services building will transform Cessnock Hospital, support the latest models of care and provide a welcoming environment," Mr Park said. Hunter New England Health's Anna Styles-Tape, the acting planning director, said "we look forward to work getting underway". Construction is set to begin on the $138 million Cessnock Hospital redevelopment. The Minns government said the project would begin "in the coming months", with builder Hansen Yuncken appointed after a tender process. Cessnock MP Clayton Barr said many people thought the idea of a new Cessnock hospital was "too good to be true". "But here we are signing contracts and making dreams come true," Mr Barr said. He said the Labor government was "putting an end to all doubts and naysayers". "Before we know it, we will have shovels on site and a brand new hospital rising out of the ground. I can't wait." The project includes a new acute services building with an expanded emergency department, operating theatre, day surgery spaces and two new inpatient wards. It also includes a sterilising services unit, a new medical imaging service and a modern pharmacy. Construction is expected to be complete in 2027. The hospital will continue to operate during the construction period, with "minimal disruption to staff, patients and the community". The project recently gained planning approval and was "shaped by feedback from the community throughout planning and design". Minister for Regional Health Ryan Park said "the appointment of the builder marks a key milestone". "The new acute services building will transform Cessnock Hospital, support the latest models of care and provide a welcoming environment," Mr Park said. Hunter New England Health's Anna Styles-Tape, the acting planning director, said "we look forward to work getting underway". Construction is set to begin on the $138 million Cessnock Hospital redevelopment. The Minns government said the project would begin "in the coming months", with builder Hansen Yuncken appointed after a tender process. Cessnock MP Clayton Barr said many people thought the idea of a new Cessnock hospital was "too good to be true". "But here we are signing contracts and making dreams come true," Mr Barr said. He said the Labor government was "putting an end to all doubts and naysayers". "Before we know it, we will have shovels on site and a brand new hospital rising out of the ground. I can't wait." The project includes a new acute services building with an expanded emergency department, operating theatre, day surgery spaces and two new inpatient wards. It also includes a sterilising services unit, a new medical imaging service and a modern pharmacy. Construction is expected to be complete in 2027. The hospital will continue to operate during the construction period, with "minimal disruption to staff, patients and the community". The project recently gained planning approval and was "shaped by feedback from the community throughout planning and design". Minister for Regional Health Ryan Park said "the appointment of the builder marks a key milestone". "The new acute services building will transform Cessnock Hospital, support the latest models of care and provide a welcoming environment," Mr Park said. Hunter New England Health's Anna Styles-Tape, the acting planning director, said "we look forward to work getting underway". Construction is set to begin on the $138 million Cessnock Hospital redevelopment. The Minns government said the project would begin "in the coming months", with builder Hansen Yuncken appointed after a tender process. Cessnock MP Clayton Barr said many people thought the idea of a new Cessnock hospital was "too good to be true". "But here we are signing contracts and making dreams come true," Mr Barr said. He said the Labor government was "putting an end to all doubts and naysayers". "Before we know it, we will have shovels on site and a brand new hospital rising out of the ground. I can't wait." The project includes a new acute services building with an expanded emergency department, operating theatre, day surgery spaces and two new inpatient wards. It also includes a sterilising services unit, a new medical imaging service and a modern pharmacy. Construction is expected to be complete in 2027. The hospital will continue to operate during the construction period, with "minimal disruption to staff, patients and the community". The project recently gained planning approval and was "shaped by feedback from the community throughout planning and design". Minister for Regional Health Ryan Park said "the appointment of the builder marks a key milestone". "The new acute services building will transform Cessnock Hospital, support the latest models of care and provide a welcoming environment," Mr Park said. Hunter New England Health's Anna Styles-Tape, the acting planning director, said "we look forward to work getting underway".
