Work could begin on the new Macquarie Homestay site as early as December after a state government grant of $3.3 million has given the project the funds required to complete stage one.
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A total of 14 units will be built on the vacant land on Tony McGrane Place, opposite Dubbo College Senior Campus and Macquarie Homestay's volunteer chairman Rod Crowfoot is delighted to see it getting underway.
The multi-million dollar grant was handed out as part of the Cobbora Transition Fund, a $20 million pool of money aimed at compensating towns for the disruption caused by the Cobbora Coal Project.
The home stay will provide accommodation for those who have to travel to Dubbo for medical treatment.
"It's an exciting day. Not in our wildest dreams did we think we would get a cheque like this from anyone," Mr Crowfoot said.
"This is a regional project. It's a benefit to everybody. [Barwon MP] Kevin Humphries said the [Cobbora Transfer Fund] committee looked at projects that had a regional benefit and that's humbling for us. It will mean a lot to a lot of people at times when the last thing they want to be doing is looking for accommodation."
The homestay is in the final stages of planning and Mr Crowfoot is hoping that if everything goes well, they can make a start before the end of the year.
"The fact we can get this started with 14 rooms in stage one will be a great start.
"The site is over 3 1/2 hectares in size so it will allow us to grow into it in years to come. As the demand is there and as the funding is available, we will be able to offer more sites.
We're fine tuning some surveys with the community to ensure what is in the rooms will be appropriate and once that is complete we will get that into council. Potentially we could be turning soil by Christmas.
The home stay had originally been considered for a place on the grounds of the redeveloped Dubbo Base Hospital but Mr Crowfoot said the new location is a better fit for everyone.
"We had a few considerations. One was proximity to the hospitals. Some of our concerns with the expansion of the hospital included were we going to have enough room to expanding. If we plan to build 40-odd rooms, I don't know if the hospital was going to be able to accommodate us," he said.
"There was some politics involved with Playmates Cottage so we looked to distance ourselves from that. What we have here is land that can support any future expansion and is still in a great location."
