Six days ago, the old Richmond River High Campus on Lake Street, North Lismore, suffered major damage following a fire that police are investigating as suspicious. Police have appealed to the community for information about the incident.

The site has been secured, security measures at the site are in place, which include fencing, boarding and security cameras and personnel for a period of time.

Nickie Bartlett, Director Educational Leadership, Department of Education for the Lismore Network told the Lismore App "That is what will be there for the immediate future while we ascertain what comes next for the buildings. The ag plot and the farms are now available for school use."

The building was ultimately going to be demolished as part of the long-term plan to move RRHC to its new location to the left of Dunoon Road as you drive out of Lismore, or opposite the showgrounds, and the land cleared for future use that will be determined once the land is clear.

Now that a fire has left parts of the building in a dangerous condition, will that bring the demolition date forward?

"That decision will be made by School Infrastructure New South Wales, and because it's heritage listed and damaged, there'll be some additional processes to be followed, but obviously, that will be expedited now because of the fire. 

"There's was never a plan to relocate or to use the heritage building in the new build, and that process just continues separately to the processes around the heritage building. So, there are some plans to use some parts of the old site, more the materials, in some landscaping.

"But the new build will be a completely modern new build on the purchased land off Dunoon Road."

Nickie said that it is still too early to tell whether some of the materials from the heritage building can still be used in the landscaping for the new RRHC site; however, other parts of the school site were not damaged by the fire.

"We were extremely grateful to the firefighters and the emergency personnel for the work that they did on Friday night, but that will really have to be ascertained as we look further at what's happened on site." 

As for the planning of the new RRHC, what is the latest update?

"We're in the process of rezoning for the new school site and certainly preparing the reports that are required for any planning approval, and we have a tender out for the main works of construction, and we're expecting to appoint a builder sort of the middle of 2025, so middle of this year." 

Like Broadwater and Blakebrook Public Schools, the new RRHC will be built in the same manner, which means the build will be faster than a traditional build.

"It is the same process, but a little bit different because obviously, the facilities will be bigger given that it's a secondary school that will be built to the capacity with the facilities that we would see in a comprehensive public secondary school.

The million-dollar question always surrounds the expected opening date of the new RRHC.

"The new flood-resilient campus is still on track for completion in 2027."

When pushed, if that means first term 2027 or by the end of the year, Nickie wouldn't be drawn, confirming that 2027 is the completion date.

We can confirm that all RRHC's agricultural education will also take place on the new site. The existing site will be cleared and divested by School Infrastructure NSW, with a future land use to be determined.