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COLLISION COURSE ON ROAD TO HOSPITAL - Wednesday 11 June 2008
Two State Government departments are on a collision course when it comes to the proposed new Northern Beaches hospital according to one independent candidate in the upcoming Warringah Council elections.
Forestville resident and Wake Up Warringah Candidate, Michael Regan, believes there is a very real danger that the Department of Health and the Roads and Traffic Authority could engage in high level buckpassing when it comes to planning for the new hospital.
“Traffic around that intersection at Wakehurst parkway and Warringah Road is a complete nightmare already, especially during peak hour. The problems that are going to be created during construction but also once the facility is operational are going to be enormous. Someone needs to take responsibility for addressing those problems now”
“We don’t want a situation where the Department of Health says it’s an RTA problem and the RTA in turn point the finger back at the Department of Health”.
“The issue of the hospital and it’s construction will be one of the key projects put before the new Council after the election on September 13th. As a genuine independent, I and the other Wake Up members will be in a situation where we can have a dialogue with both the Labor State Government and also with our local Liberal Members of Parliament. Healthcare and Traffic are both too important to play politics with and we need an independent voice on Council making sure that the right decisions are made for the people of Warringah.”
“All we want as residents are some guarantees that a comprehensive traffic plan will be part of the planning process. First of all we need to push for a commitment from the State Government that the hospital will go ahead, but beyond that we want them to look at the whole planning process.”
“We need a team established that brings together all the relevant stakeholders, including local residents, to focus purely on the traffic issues. Do we need an overpass there? What impact will there be on surrounding residential streets? How will parking be provided for the hundreds of hospital staff and visitors? There are questions and ideas floating around that need to be brought together so solutions can be found”
“The residents need to be consulted though. It’s local people with local knowledge that will hold the key to solving these problems”.
Mr Regan’s warning comes as the State Government outlined that an upgrade of the roads would be included in the hospital development but gave little detail about how the process would be overseen”.
“We’ve waited so long for the new hospital and I think we’re all looking forward to the new facility and the improved healthcare it will provide to the Northern Beaches community. We just want to make sure that the hospital doesn’t create more problems than it solves.”
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