The department is committed to providing high quality, flood resilient facilities for the Murwillumbah East Public School community. One option considered to achieve this was extending the flood levee near the school.
The department has worked with technical experts and stakeholders to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of a levee extension with respect to flood protection. Engagement included meetings with the NSW Reconstruction Authority and Tweed Shire Council to discuss possible levee locations, potential impacts on surrounding areas, and outcomes of the hydrological engineering assessment.
Following these discussions, it was determined that extending the flood levee did not present the best outcome in terms of flood resilience and facilities for the school community.
Instead, planning is underway to design and construct new, flood-resilient facilities that will be raised above the ground or sited on less flood affected parts of the school site. This approach has been adopted successfully at other Northern Rivers schools being rebuilt on flood prone land, including Empire Vale Public School and Wardell Public School.