A row is brewing over car parking at Dubbo Hospital where another 100 car spaces will be built under its $150 million stage three and four redevelopment.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Health Infrastructure (HI) reports that more than 380 car spaces will be available at the hospital when the stages are complete.
But Dubbo’s former deputy mayor Ben Shields calls the extra 100 car spaces a “drop in the ocean”.
The candidate for election to Dubbo Regional Council (DRC) has applauded government investment in the hospital, including the promised construction of an integrated cancer centre.
“But you can have all the best hospital facilities, if people can’t actually access it or you’ve got old folks or disabled folks having to walk kilometres or through mud, there’s not much point,” he said.
Earlier this month Mr Shields checked out the car park on the eastern side of the campus which he found “so full that elderly patients were forced to park so far down the back they were off the car park and on the unformed muddy grassy area”.
He said a commitment was needed to either build a multi-level car park or immediately begin negotiations with DRC to “realign parking in front of the hospital to significantly increase the amount of car spots”.
On Wednesday HI confirmed that the $91.3 million stage one and two redevelopment delivered 280 car spaces which was “a significant increase for the campus”.
Its spokeswoman said planning for stage three and four redevelopment included a comprehensive traffic and parking assessment.
The 100 new car spaces in the redevelopment pipeline would be built close to the hospital’s planned new entrance in the south-eastern corner of the campus, she said.
The HI spokeswoman told of the temporary and current impact on onsite parking “while we construct the new in-patient unit”, one of the first projects of stage three and four redevelopment.
HI reports that time restrictions in place across the hospital site are “monitored regularly to ensure the most convenient spaces are left for patients and visitors”.
“Additional mobility parking is provided near the renal, oncology and emergency entrances,” its spokeswoman said. “In addition to the pick-up and drop-off area near the emergency entrance, there is also short-stay parking and this area will be further expanded and improved by the redevelopment.”
Mr Shields is warning HI “to fix this problem now before it gets worse”. “One only has to look at the parking debacle in Orange to see that is far better to work on the parking issues now than wait till the entire complex is complete,” he said.