The Tamworth Public upgrade is on time and on budget, despite teams working around a busy school and several too-hot or smoky days.
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Principal Chris Connor, Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson, NSW Department of Education educational leadership director Ruythe Dufty and project director Shalini Gandhi gathered on-site this afternoon to talk about the progress.
Mr Anderson said at least half a dozen local companies had been contracted for tasks such as concrete pouring, electrical work, engineering and scaffolding.
"This was a key focus of what we tried to do right at the start ... what we do to create jobs and keep any dollar coming into our region local," he said.
"I'm really pleased that local jobs, on a local site, keeps the economy ticking over in what is the worst drought on record."
And though rain can often delay a project, Miss Gandhi said heat was a factor in this one.
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"We have made it a priority for the work health and safety of all the workers ... so for any day which was extremely hot, we told our sub-contractors to stop the work and not work, or work completely under the shade, if they were doing something internal."
The threshold was about 37-38 degrees, "but it really depends".
"If the conditions are very smoky, which it has lately been, we ask the contractors not to be on the site ... usually we keep enough contingencies in our program to factor all of that in."
Mr Connor said it was "a self-contained building site separate from the whole school itself, so we've been able to work around it rather than having to go through it in any way".
"The contractors have been very open with their communication; I have weekly meetings with the contractors about the work that's going to be undertaken each day so I can warn the community if there's any traffic movement or noise concerns ...
"Basically the school's operating as normal, just in more of a confined space."
Ms Dufty said the need to cater for a growing enrolment was more evidence "Tamworth's a bit of a go-ahead city".
"We've got very full schools in Tamworth; this one had seven demountable buildings, so [it was chosen for an upgrade] when we came to prioritise which schools needed a build with a commitment from the government."
The new two-storey teaching block should be ready for use by October.