An inquiry by Cessnock MP Clayton Barr to education minister Adrian Piccoli’s office revealed last week that the land has been declared surplus by the NSW Government and a property disposal plan is being prepared for the site.

The proceeds of the sale are to be reinvested in capital works and maintenance projects in schools.

Wollombi Public School was closed in December 2014 when its student population had dropped to five.

The Wollombi School Community Education Trust (WSCET) was formed in April 2015 with the hope of retaining the site for community and educational purposes.

It has since hosted 250 events on the school grounds.

WSCET spokesperson Frank Ganino said the community was promised that it would be consulted about the building’s future use.

But they are still waiting for said consultation; a move Mr Ganino labelled “disrespectful but unsurprising”.

“As revealed by the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Closure of Public Schools in NSW, there appears to have been a systematic targeting and closure of small schools across NSW, particularly those in rural areas,” he said.

Australian tennis legend John Newcombe, who owns property at Wollombi, has come on board as patron of WSCET.

A past chair of the National Australia Day Council, Mr Newcombe said he has a keen interest in protecting historic sites, especially in small regional towns.

“The people of Wollombi have proven the value of the school and deserve to be treated with more respect,” he said.

“We as Australians are nothing if we do not preserve our historical past, even if it is in a small country town.”

Shortly before Wollombi Public School’s closure in 2014, the community staged a ‘mock auction’ to draw attention to its concerns should the school be sold.

Mr Ganino said it’s now like everything they foreshadowed is becoming reality.

Check out Claude Aliotti’s video of the mock auction below.