With the latest announcement about extra funding for the new Shellharbour hospital, talk has now turned to exactly where the upgraded facility will be.
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Joining Premier Gladys Berejiklian in Shell Cove to announce $300 million in extra funding for the project on Tuesday, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the hospital would be located on a greenfield site.
He said work would start in around 18 months and he hoped it would be completed in five years.
"We have a couple of sites in mind," he told reporters.
"One of them is very well located to the rail line and the highway. Health Infrastructure is working on that as we speak."
One of them is very well located to the rail line and the highway. Health Infrastructure is working on that as we speak.
- Brad Hazzard
One area which would meet this criteria is Dunmore, near Shellharbour Junction station.
There, there are several large greenfield parcels, in both public and private ownership, which could be acquired to build the hospital, which would be able to be linked to the Princes Highway and the public transport network.
Close to the growing Shell Cove population base, and - at least on one side of the highway - in Kiama MP Gareth Ward's Liberal-held electorate, the area is a strong contender.
Shellharbour Mayor Marianne Saliba said she did not know the exact location the state was considering, but said the council had presented various options, in Dunmore and Albion Park, to the health minister late last year.
"We took some maps of large parcels of land to the minister, going back late last year, and we spoke to him about the size of land that they needed for the development they wanted to do on a greenfield site," she said.
"The problem is that they've got to acquire the land before they go any further with it. There's not that many large blocks of land - we're talking 20-25 hectares - that are able to be developed."
The council owns about four hectares of land south of Shellharbour Anglican College, with another 20ha parcel in private ownership.
Across the highway, most of the large land lots are privately owned.
Of the sites the council presented to the minister last year, Cr Saliba said she preferred the Dunmore area due to its proximity to roads and rail.
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
