During the 2019 election campaign the NSW Government, in a bid to retain the seat of East Hills, made a $1.3B funding commitment for a new Bankstown Hospital. To date a decision is yet to be made as to the location. The ideal site is the Bankstown trotting club at Condell Park. At least 10 Hectares in size, the hospital precinct could be progressively increased to 70 Hectares through the acquisition of adjacent industrial land.
Centrally located, the trotting club is approximately 600 Metres distance from the M5 Motorway which at this point runs on an elevated embankment. A flyover in the vicinity of Violet St crossing over Milperra Rd would allow for unimpeded access for Ambulances and other hospital related traffic providing rapid connectivity to communities throughout South Western Sydney. The Milperra Rd / Edgar St / Queen St intersection could be reconfigured through a combination of a flyover and countersunk lanes allowing for the removal of the traffic lights. This would facilitate enhanced traffic flow to and from the hospital through what is currently a busy and congested intersection.
The Bankstown Ambulance Station on Canterbury Rd near the Chapel Rd intersection is poorly situated and should be moved to the new hospital site. A risk assessment conducted by NSW Ambulance prior to the Ambulance Station’s opening concluded that the likelihood of traumatic injury or death due to the collision of Ambulances turning into traffic was extreme. In June 2019 paramedics were injured during such a collision and required hospitalisation.
A green field site of this size would allow for a large modern teaching hospital with the capacity for a range of related community services and also subsidised residential accommodation for hospital staff. Given the substantial amount of public money invested in this project there would be the expectation that the new hospital would remain in public hands unlike the Northern Beaches Hospital which was built with $2B of taxpayer’s funds and promptly privatised. A key component of the new hospital precinct would be ample and free parking.
The design of the new hospital should be based on the Principles of Ecological Sustainability such as in situ treatment and reuse of waste water, Passive Solar Design and renewable energy technologies such as solar panels.
An essential element underpinning good mental and physical health is a robust connection with nature. The large size of the new hospital site would allow for extensive revegetation with locally native flora such as Turpentines, Grey Box, Sydney Red Gums, Cheese Trees, Forest Red Gums, shrubs and grasses. The reintroduction of bushland on such a large scale would provide habitat for native birds such as Blue Wrens, still present in Condell Park, and other fauna. This would also facilitate connectivity with bushland reserves located along Milperra Rd at Deverall Park, the endangered Ashford Reserve Wetlands and the extremely rare Cooks River Castlereagh Woodland adjacent to Bankstown Airport. This connection with nature could be reinforced through the establishment of food gardens and orchards and also a network of bicycle paths.
The lack of public transport should be addressed by a light rail loop connecting the Bankstown and Airport Lines via the hospital. This light rail loop would create extensive economic and social linkages between Bankstown, Condell Park, Georges Hall, the University of Western Sydney Milperra Campus and East Hills to Padstow. Funding for light rail should be considered as a separate additional budget.
Given the Commonwealth’s responsibility for funding health services an equivalent financial commitment should be sought in time for the Federal Budget of May 2023 bringing total funds to approximately $3B.
I have communicated with Bankstown Hospital General Manager Peter Rophail, who wrote in response:
“Thank you for your time the other day on the phone and for your email. Your interest in the new hospital is greatly appreciated. I have taken the liberty of sharing your suggestions with the group evaluating the potential sites”.