- 500 local jobs will be created during construction, the Minister said
- Submissions and community feedback has resulted in some conditions being placed on the development application
The development application for the expansion of the Canberra Hospital has been approved by the Australian Capital Territory government.
The Minister for Planning and Land Management, Mick Gentleman, stressed he wanted to ensure the project stayed on schedule.
“This project will also create more than 500 local jobs during construction,” said Mr Gentleman.
“The development application has undergone a thorough assessment process. I carefully considered the nine submissions and feedback raised by the community and have placed conditions on the development that must be addressed before construction begins.”
Mick Gentleman, Minister for Planning and Land Management
“Conditions include a revised configuration for Hospital Road North and a long-term parking plan to ensure hospital users, staff and local residents can easily access the expanded hospital campus.”
Mr Gentleman added that in addition to the new building works, Hospital Road will be reconfigured as will the existing emergency drop-off area. Additionally, a new car park will be constructed.
Rachel Stephen-Smith, the Minister for Health, added the approval will modernise the facility while boosting its capacity to provide tertiary hospital services to the residents of the territory.
“The new Critical Services Building will deliver a bigger Emergency Department, more theatres, more Intensive Care Unit beds and state-of-the art facilities for staff, patients and families,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“We have spent more than 18 months refining the design of the Critical Services Building to reflect the feedback from our ongoing consultations with hospital users, clinicians, families, carers and local residents.
Rachel Stephen-Smith, Minister for Health
“More than 250 user group workshops have been held with clinicians while local community and consumer reference groups have been meeting regularly and will continue to do so throughout construction.”
Ms Stephen-Smith noted that work has recently commenced on the Critical Services Building, along with the internal demolition of buildings 5 and 24 which are underway.
