The Member for Tamworth Peter Draper and Department of Education and Training’s regional director Des Gorman inspected the site for the new school on the junction of Kathleen and Degance streets yesterday that is part of the grounds of Tamworth High School. The decision to shift the special school was detailed as part of a report called Tamworth Learning 2020 released early in April.

Mr Gorman said tenders would be called for the construction of the school as soon as the development application process was resolved.

Mr Draper aid the new Bullimbal School would provide a

specialised educational setting with intensive support for students from Kindergarten to Year 12.

The proposed move of the special school, established in the 1950s, would include two extra classrooms permitting a further 16 spots for students, a large increase from the present capacity of 34 students.

Mr Draper said there had been a lot of work undertaken to reach this milestone.

He said the new school would be a significant investment in providing disability services for the community and would provide students access to modern learning and support facilities where they could undertake their education in a safe and secure

environment.

The Bullimbal school would include: a classroom block with specialised facilities for students with disabilities, an administration area, a library, a hydrotherapy pool, communal space, student and staff toilets and, a car park.

The project is jointly funded by the NSW and Federal governments under the Capital Grants Program.

The new school is expected to be ready for occupation in 2010. The department cannot reveal how much the project will cost due to it being subject to a process of open and competitive tendering.

Meanwhile Mr Gorman said the process to sell off DET land on Goonoo Goonoo Rd, near the Calala Lane junction, would also begin soon. The land was pinpointed in the Learning 2020 report as a DET asset to be sold, with the money raised to be directly injected into Tamworth High School for urgent upgrades of infrastructure and technology.

Mr Gorman said the principal of the Tamworth West Public School, another school identified in the report, had been asked to nominate its top three refurbishment needs and these would be included in the department’s ongoing budget process.