Goulburn Base Hospital parking plan to go public

But it comes after considerable tension between Goulburn Mulwaree Council and Health Infrastructure (HI), the body handling the rebuild. Residents, such as Grahame Northey, are also dissatisfied with the level of consultation.

“The consultation with neighbours has been zero. They (HI) promised it but nothing has happened,” Mr Northey said.

The council has only partially endorsed HI’s planned parking time limits during the rebuild. At the most recent meeting it agreed to:

Councillors did not agree to a four-hour time limit on Clifford Street between Faithfull and Deccan Streets and Goldsmith Street between Albert and Deccan Streets. Instead, these areas will remain untimed.

All the parking restrictions will be limited to 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and it’s expected that residents, hospital and school staff will be issued permits to exempt them from the restrictions.

Operations director Matt O’Rourke said the changes were designed to encourage vehicle turnover for hospital visitors and discourage construction staff parking around the area. HI has confirmed that it was finalising a licence with the Department of Education to use its land on the corner of Mount and Fitzroy Streets during construction. 

While the council will police the temporary timed parking arrangements, the council is insisting that HI fund changes to signage and road markings.

Following approaches from a local courier, it will also ask HI to install a loading zone during construction and in the final parking arrangements.

The alterations will be the subject of what’s expected to be a five-week community consultation program starting mid-January. Letters will be issued to surrounding residents and businesses.

The council has urged HI to hold a public meeting as part of the consultation. Mr O’Rourke said initial discussions had flagged Goulburn High School hall as a venue.

But some councillors wondered whether any of the suggestions were hitting home.

“I don’t know why we even bother,” he said.

“We don’t seem to have the right people allowing us to put things forward. We keep running into a roadblock…

“The amount of listening we’ve done to people living in that area, (council) staff have also put in heaps of time and I don’t think we’ve got one through to the keeper yet.”

General manager Warwick Bennett replied that he’d had “one victory” but most of the council’s other parking suggestions had been rejected.

“This process is being run by HI and I’ve been informed twice by them that they’ll do what they like, so we have to go as hard as we can to get an outcome that’s good for our community,” he said.  

Cr Margaret O’Neill said there was too much emphasis on staff parking and not enough on patients and residents.

“We have to look after the residents in the area and the bottom line is that we’re not because there’s been no consultation,” she said.

“...We have to say to the State Government, ‘you can’t have all the parking for staff’. People are being treated too. I think the staff should be made to park up in Mount Street.”

She argued that elderly people living around the precinct would be loathe to confront someone parked in their driveway. Moreover, there were other doctors’ surgeries in the area that also needed parking spaces.

Mayor Bob Kirk also expressed frustration with the discussions to date.

“We’re asked to represent the community by making decisions on their behalf,” he said.

“In this case, HI is making decisions based not on what the community needs but what suits them. It’s bureaucrats.”

The Mayor said the issue needed to be taken out to the community to have more impact on HI. He expected large numbers to attend the public meeting.

“If we don’t get what we wish, I think that’s when we engage at a higher level,” he told the meeting.

The date of the public meeting will be advertised. Cr Walker suggested that the head of HI and Goulburn MP Pru Goward be invited.

Prell Street resident Grahame Northey will be there having his say.

He’s taken a strong interest in the issue, having attended each council meeting at which hospital parking has been discussed. Mr Northey said he was in no doubt that the facility itself had to be upgraded. 

“The real issues are the inconvenience during construction and that there’s insufficient parking in the plans. There should be a multi-storey carpark,” he told The Post.

Mr Northey said there was no provision for staff parking in the upgrade. This created pressures now but it would be made worse during construction, he argued.

“I don’t agree that staff should be exempt from the two-hour limit. They start parking there from 8.30am so the two-hour restriction becomes irrelevant for everyone else because the spaces will be filled up,” he said.

“Patients and visitors will have to park a long way away and walk and residents will have difficulty accessing their properties. I don’t think enough thought has been put into this.”

Mr Northey said the “glaring omission” in HI’s submission was the impact the arrangements would have on Prell Street, an already congested thoroughfare.

“The way I see it, HI is doing what it wants and not taking notice of anyone else. It’s not good enough,” he said.

The Southern NSW Local Health District has not returned calls requesting comment.

However, chief executive Andrew Newton has previously said the community would be fully consulted about parking arrangements throughout the project. 

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