Roger Jaensch,Minister for Education, Children and Youth
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is getting on with the job of delivering a new primary school for the growing Legana community, with early site works at 612 West Tamar Highway already underway.
The new school is much anticipated in the Legana community, and I know families are already looking to when they can enrol their children.
The Department of Education has been working to deliver the new school to be ready for the 2024 school year and will be tendering for a building contractor to undertake the works in the second half of this year.
The Tasmanian construction industry is currently at capacity, and while this is great news for local jobs, this also means there is strong competition for labour and building materials, placing pressure on the industry's capacity to deliver major capital projects within expected timeframes.
The Tasmanian Government has been working closely with the building and construction industry to support the smooth delivery of what is set to be a significant and growing pipeline of work over the next few years.
We've committed to ensuring this pipeline of major capital projects is manageable for the local industry and that it is in a position to deliver on these projects sensibly and on time while maximising local job opportunities. We also recognise that families need certainty.
Therefore, the Department will now be focused on completing the new school in 2024 ready for school operations in 2025.
Our Government is also delivering a major upgrade of the West Tamar Highway - which includes a new intersection and pedestrian and cycleways for the school – and the Department is working with the Department of State Growth to align these two important projects.
Extensive community and stakeholder consultation has been undertaken to help shape the new school and to determine the school's intake area, and this intake area is expected to be finalised shortly.
Once this occurs, the Department will be communicating widely with the Legana community and surrounding region about the intake area, the timeframes for completion of the school and the expressions of interest process for enrolments.
