Cessnock Council will write to the state government calling for the proposed new Lower Hunter hospital to be built closer to Cessnock.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Councillor Paul Dunn’s motion to lobby the government to move the hospital from the proposed site at Metford to a vacant 40-hectare site next to the Hunter Expressway passed unanimously last Wednesday.
The motion also involved council indicating its preference for a fully-funded public hospital.
The new hospital was proposed to provide Hunter residents better access to healthcare and relieve pressure on John Hunter Hospital.
Cr Dunn said building the new facility at Metford would not achieve those goals.
“A true regional hospital needs to be accessible to all residents in our community, including those living in outlying areas,” he said.
“Putting the hospital along the Hunter Expressway will provide for the most direct route as the majority of the population boom is on the west side of Maitland.”
Cr Dunn also raised the idea of building the hospital at the former Hydro Aluminium site at Loxford. He said it would provide a boost to the local economy, particularly Kurri Kurri.
“We lost a lot of money when Hydro shut down, and we need something that will draw employment back to Kurri,” he said.
Cr Dunn’s fellow councillors commended him on the motion, saying it was a “no-brainer” to put the hospital alongside the Expressway.
In March Health Minister Brad Hazzard told Fairfax Media that everything was “back on the table” in regards to the hospital.
Hydro Aluminium participated in a Hunter New England Health expression of interest for land for the new hospital several years ago after the smelter closed down.
But Hunter New England Health said the Metford site was chosen after a rigorous selection process of more than 35 sites.
“The Metford site meets all the required criteria and is within approximately 15 minutes from the Hunter Expressway,” HNEH executive lead for the new Maitland Hospital Tony Gilbertson said.