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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-07-11 Daily Xml
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PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: RIVERLAND SPECIAL SCHOOL REDEVELOPMENT

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (11:31): I move:

That the 449th report of the committee, entitled Riverland Special School Redevelopment, be noted.

The Riverland Special School was successful in achieving priority inclusion in the capital works program announced in the 2010-11 state budget under the special schools renewal program. It is proposed to develop a new Riverland Special School on the Glossop senior campus site. The proposal will improve the educational accommodation for the school and avoid the on-going costs of maintenance of aged transportable and Demac buildings.

It will also increase the available play space to meet the DECD entitlement and also comply with current disability access requirements across the site. This project is expected to be completed by September 2013 at an estimated cost of $7.65 million. Given this, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to the parliament that it recommends the proposed public works.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (11:32): The opposition supports this project, as indeed it should. I heard what the member for Fisher had to say—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: Labor is always spending money in the regions.

Mr PENGILLY: If you want to make a contribution, Mick, you can wait until I sit down. As we have done with all these special school projects—I am not quite sure whether the member for Fisher has read up on all the projects we have done lately—projects such as Ashford Special School will be done in tandem with the adjoining school just down the road, so wherever possible these special schools are factored into working with the traditional schools.

However, the Riverland Special School was a much-needed redevelopment. It was interesting to have the co-principals down to talk about the project before the committee and we support the project. I think the member for Chaffey wants to have a crack.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:33): Just briefly, I would like to talk about the Riverland Special School. I was actually privileged to go along last week and attend the 50-year celebration of the Riverland Special School. It is a school that has been there not for 50 years but for around 40 years, but to see what that school has achieved over that term of its life was truly—I would not like to say amazing, but many of the staff have been there since day one and were there at the reunion. It was a testament to what they had achieved and how dedicated they had been to that school.

The redevelopment is something that I feel has been a long time coming. For those in this place who do not understand, it is a school on the side of a hill, trying to address the needs of those less fortunate than us who, in particular, have physical handicap issues. With the wheelchairs, frames and the assistant products they use to get around that school, they do a remarkable job. I fully support the building of the new school, which will be down next to the senior campus of the Glossop High School in Berri. It has been a long time coming. The old asbestos buildings at the existing school are now in need of repair and are past their use-by date.

Again, it is a school that really has huge representation in the region. It is not that it is a centre for special needs students, but it has an attraction in that it offers so much to the young students who need a school with the special capability of giving them the best chance in life. Again, the new school is much welcomed. It is an institution that has, as I said, been in the Riverland for over 50 years and supports the new school just down the road.

Motion carried.

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