Dubbo Regional Council will push for the NSW government to consider building a multi-storey car park at Dubbo Hospital.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The idea for a multi-storey car park was raised by councillor Stephen Lawrence at the October council meeting, in response to mayor Ben Shields’ plan for additional parks.
Cr Shields’ idea is to transfer Theresa Maliphant Park to NSW Health to allow for the construction of another 88 parking spaces. Council has estimated the cost of the work would be $1.2 million.
The plan has not been supported by Dubbo MP Troy Grant, who said the plan would be far more expensive and would encroach on Crown Land.
Mr Grant said there were “a couple of issues” with the mayor’s plan, including the flood retardation function.
ALSO MAKING NEWS:
However, Cr Lawrence said he believed the solution to the need for more parking at the hospital was to create a multi-storey car park.
As well as creating the additional parks, it would allow for the green space to be retained, Cr Lawrence said.
However, the mayor said based on his discussions with Health NSW in the past, he didn’t believe they would commit to a multi-storey, million dollar car park.
“I don’t like our chances. I think we should go in and ask for the best option first… although I can pretty much guess what their answer’s going to be beforehand,” he said.
I can pretty much guess what their answer’s going to be beforehand.
- Dubbo Regional mayor Ben Shields
Cr Shields said he was also against the car park being constructed by the private sector. The mayor said he didn’t want residents to have to pay for parking at the hospital.
Despite his amendment to the original plan getting approval from his fellow councillors, Cr Lawrence voted against the decision to write to the NSW government about the car park.
The nine other councillors voted in favour of going to the NSW government.
If the plan for the multi-storey car park is unsuccessful, council will then look at transferring the land from Theresa Maliphant Park.
Cr Shields said while it was unusual for council to give land to the NSW government he didn’t believe ratepayers would be opposed.
“You can’t have a major hospital without appropriate car parking. You can have the best hospital in the world and if you can’t access it you may as well have built it on the moon,” he said.
Council’s plans are conceptual at this stage and will require further development.
Mr Grant said it was highly unusual for council to gift the land to the government for hospital services.
“What’s even more unusual is that some of the land he’s proposing to gift is land that already belongs to the state government. The mayor’s concept has a couple of issues, not just the ownership, but with the flood retardation function, significant works are required on that site to mitigate that issue,” Mr Grant said.
“I’ve spoken to Health Infrastructure, who tell me that the cost of the mayor’s proposal would be significantly more than the cost of a multi-storey car park on-site on the northern side of the hospital with easy access into the new building.”
There were 280 spaces provided with Stages One and Two of the Dubbo Hospital development and Stages Three and Four would add an additional 131 spaces, Mr Grant said.
“Adequate parking at the hospital will be of huge benefit for everyone involved. It is not something that should be used for a cheap headline,” he said.
The Dubbo MP said he agreed with Nationals candidate Dugald Saunders’ petition that more on-site spaces were needed, not only to accommodate patients, carers and visitors but also secure parking for staff.
“I am calling for as many spots as is needed, in simple terms the hospital just doesn’t have enough car parks for the staff and public who are accessing vital health services, and I’m determined to get that fixed,” Mr Saunders said previously about the petition.