Lismore received another ministerial visitor today. Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education Steve Whan and Steve Brady the head of TAFE for NSW were joined by State Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin at the Conway Street TAFE Lismore site to give an update on flood restoration work and to give rough timelines.

"As Minister responsible for skills, we've had a number of discussions with Janelle about what's going to happen with the future of this campus. I want to assure the community here that we are committed to delivering TAFE courses back at the Lismore campus in town. It is an important centre for the community."

"The questions we need to work through are fairly difficult. Obviously, we need to work through what courses we can deliver here without risking expensive equipment and investment in future floods. Now, we have to recognise that there is the possibility of this site being affected by future floods but we do want to make sure that it is a centre for learning, a centre for the community, more importantly, and potentially involving arts as one of its focuses because it's a valuable site in the community."

"Janelle Saffin has made it absolutely clear to myself and to Steve Brady, that she wants people here, wants people on-site, wants it used and wants it to be a focus for the community."

As the Lismore App reported in November 2023, the Conway Street site involves three (3) heritage-listed buildings and three (3) buildings identified for demolition.

The heritage-listed buildings have a significant history in Lismore:

• Building C – Former Ambulance Station (1933)
• Building E – Former Trades School (1929)
• Building B – Former Drill Hall (1906)

Buildings C1, D and K are due for demolition in the future.

As for timelines surrounding the site and the planning and repairs, Steve Brady said two years.

"The critical part now is chatting with Janelle and the local community about what we will deliver here. We're very keen to make sure we've got a vibrant campus here, part of the local community."

"So once we've sort of formulated that, we'll take that to government as part of the budget process and then once we get approval for the funding, we can start to deliver that in the next financial year."

(Head of NSW TAFE Steve Brady, Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin and Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education Steve Whan talking about the Conway Street campus)

"We're keen to get going on it, but will take some construction work, there's some remediation we're doing, so I think we've got to anticipate it's going to be a couple of years before we'll be fully established"

Minister Whan said, "In terms of timeframes, obviously there's work being undertaken. We've started the work on restoring the heritage buildings and once we get that in place, that's something which enables us then to have courses but we're also doing a broader look at which courses to offer here and that decision hasn't been made.

"Our visit today is a part of the process of making that decision."

When asked about the size of the NSW TAFE Lismore campus after the rebuild and if it will be slightly smaller than pre-flood, Mr Brady said it's about getting the right balance in terms of the investment.

"We're very keen to make sure we have got a vibrant campus here that supports the local community but we don't want to be investing in heavy equipment which is then going to be ruined when there's another event. So, we're trying to get that right balance but what we're probably looking at is a different mix of courses and looking at courses that don't require that heavy machinery investment."

Mr Brady was referring to specific creative arts courses that were run at the Conway Street campus such as pottery and ceramics where a kiln cannot be removed or moved to safety in a short amount of time and is very expensive to replace.

The inevitable question about rebuilding in the CBD was raised and the answer came from Janelle Saffin.

"There's two good reasons. One is there is no government decision to abandon the CBD of Lismore. That decision was never taken, and that wouldn't happen anywhere. So we are rebuilding here but we're rebuilding in a framework to build back better."

"You've all heard that saying, we said it from when we had the flood, and that's what's happening now and that's what TAFE is doing.

"I've said there has to be a presence. It's part of our area, part of our tradition, part of our heritage but I'm also very sensible about what sort of courses we'll run here and looking at the range of options right across our area."

For the next two years, Lismore TAFE courses will be running at Southern Cross University and the Wollongbar and Ballina campuses.