ST JOEYS COMING BACK TO WOODBURN

By Samantha Elley

First item on the well attended Woodburn Business Chamber meeting two weeks ago, was the news that St Joseph’s Primary School would be coming back to Woodburn.

Since the February 2022 flood, the school has had temporary facilities at the Catholic Church grounds in Evans Head.

Parents and staff had fought for the location at Woodburn to be renovated, despite the Catholic diocese deciding against it, preferring to find a flood-free alternative.

“(It is) a medium term solution for the next 5-10 years,” a spokesperson from the Chamber said. “They still need to work out a long term solution.”

The RFS reported that there had been 120 callouts for Woodburn so far this year and the recent fire at the bombing range in Evans Head had an unknown cause.

A new spring fed fire pump for New Italy had also been approved and was on its way.

The SES tabled the need for a new evacuation centre for Woodburn as the official place, the Woodburn Memorial Hall, is too small for 600 people and 400 animals and being next to a river, would defeat the purpose in times of flood.

A new SES centre out of a flood area was also raised and a new emergency community radio is being set up that covers Broadwater, Coraki and Woodburn.

Plans for the new streetscape were discussed and disabled parking was a concern.

Final design for the streetscape should be delivered by the end of the year.