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A rebooted plan to build a local hospital near Eltham is facing fierce opposition for the second time, with residents of the green wedge area warning the Allan government not to touch their cherished open spaces.
The promised community hospital, which was blocked from being built on council land in Greensborough two years ago, is now the subject of a petition rejecting its construction in nearby Diamond Creek.
The proposed site for the community hospital.Credit: Luis Ascui
A loss of kangaroo habitat, extra traffic congestion and even a feared drop in property values have been listed as reasons not to build a new hospital in the low-density outer suburb.
The small hospital – intended to ease pressure on the much larger Austin Hospital in Heidelberg – “will impact local traffic significantly … increasing noise and creating parking issues in the area … property values could potentially drop for those homes within the vicinity,” the petition, titled “No hospital in Ryans Rd Diamond Creek”, warns. It has been signed by more than 1000 people.
The vacant site earmarked for the hospital is hilly and wild, with a derelict farmhouse and stables amid an expanse of trees and long grass, which is sometimes visited by a mob of eastern grey kangaroos.
A high-voltage transmission line runs through the reserve, which is owned by the Department of Transport and until 2017 formed part of a potential route for the North East Link.
The Nillumbik Shire Council accepted the 1007-signature petition at a council meeting last week, but instantly washed its hands of it.
“We’re happy to accept the petition and note it but … council does not have a position on the location,” Nillumbik mayor Ben Ramcharan said, clarifying that the council had no authority over the state-owned land.
Two years ago, the council did take a position on the hospital’s location. The then-Andrews government had sought to build it next door to the council’s offices in central Greensborough, but Nillumbik councillors voted to refuse to sell them the land.
The Greensborough location also met with a hostile reaction from locals, who successfully campaigned against the loss of open space and the increase in parking and traffic problems.
Locals in Diamond Creek are fighting a state government plan to build a hospital in their suburb.
Councillor Natalie Duffy, whose ward includes Diamond Creek, said she empathised with the petitioners fighting the government’s second-choice site.
“It’s generally observed that most residents will oppose the building of a hospital in their neighbourhood,” Duffy said at the November 28 meeting.
But Duffy, who in 2021 voted in favour of selling the Greensborough site to the state, said she supported a hospital for the region.
“Having recently undergone breast cancer treatment along with a number of other local women, and having to travel to treatment, I support the construction of a local community hospital that proposes to provide chemotherapy, dialysis, and mental health services, amongst other services,” she said.
The property currently has an abandoned farmhouse and stables.Credit: Luis Ascui
Martin Penrose, the Diamond Creek resident who launched the petition, said many in the community objected to the lack of warning or consultation about the plan to put a hospital within a low-density residential community, and on land that is an unofficial haven for native wildlife.
“We all want more hospitals. Because of the ageing population and the growth in Victoria, it’s understandable that we need to improve our services, but whether we need one right here is the question,” Penrose said. “There just seem to be so many factors that don’t add up: the green wedge aspect, the animals, the traffic, the parking, and the lack of transport to the site.”
Petition signatory James Bant lives diagonally across the road from the site, and said he doesn’t believe the area even needs a new hospital.
“In my opinion, it was a vote-getter, pork-barrelling,” he said. “It’s going to make the traffic unbearable.”
His neighbour, James Merrett, said the local community was blindsided by the news and given no opportunity to have their say.
“The biggest thing is, we weren’t informed about it. They just slapped down the plans and said, ‘we’re building this here’, without any consent or warning to local residents,” he said.
The Eltham area community hospital is one of 10 hospitals the state government has promised to build in growth areas, at a total cost of $675 million.
The Eltham area hospital “will help take pressure off nearby major hospitals, including the Austin Hospital, and enable more people to manage their health needs closer to home”, the Victorian Health Building Authority said.
An artist impression of the Eltham Community Hospital.
It will offer a host of medical services, including dialysis, day surgery, public dental and paediatric care, but will not have an emergency department.
The authority also said the selection process for 405 Ryans Road was managed by a site selection committee, to avoid actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
“This process often does not include community consultation due to commercial sensitivities,” the authority said.
A Department of Health and Human Services said the project was unlikely to harm the local kangaroos.
“An ecological assessment has also been undertaken, which determined there is no significant flora on the site, and it is unlikely native wildlife rely on the site,” it said.
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