New Shellharbour Hospital

Application Number SSD-57064458 – Climate & Environmental Degradation and Lack of Urban Democracy

Letter of 12 October 2023 attached.

Risk to the Minnamurra River - toxic blooms and MND research as a result of decreased oxygen levels in the River

Objection based on requirement to submit to DCEEW

Please see attached.

1 I very strongly support this project. The facilities at the current Shellharbour Hospital cannot cope with current demand for services.
2 Possible pollution risk for Minnamurra River estuary. Given the site's close proximity to the important and sensitive Minnamurra River estuary, the community needs to be given strong assurances that the proposed controls set out in section 6.14 p140 are sufficient to ensure there will be no pollution of Minnamurra River estuary from groundwater and stormwater runoff from the site for the design life of the project. A requirement needs to be included in the project to ensure there is an ongoing program of pollution monitoring and maintenance of detention basin.
3 No helipad will be provided as part of this proposal. Section 6.24 p174 states 'Whilst the hospital has been designed for the potential addition of a helicopter landing site (HLS) in the future, the current scope and proposal does not include a HLS. As the current Shellharbour Hospital has a helipad, the community needs to be assured that by not providing a helipad in this proposal, that there will not be a downgrading of the regional emergency response capability.
I am pleased to hear that provision will be made in structural design of the Clematis building for a future roof top helipad. Given that this project already includes the major cost for the helipad, for a relatively small additional cost, I ask that consideration be given to include the complete helipad in the scope of this project. It will be cheaper in the long run.
4 Improved pedestrian access from Shellharbour Junction Station. In Section 3.8.4 p36, it is pleasing to read that there are currently discussions with Transport for NSW to provide easier pedestrian access via a shared pathway along the rail corridor from Shellharbour Junction Station to the hospital site. However, the actual construction of the pathway would appear to be outside the scope of the proposal. As public transport access is important to facilities such as hospitals, the community should be requesting that once agreement is reached on the route of the path, the construction of the path should be included in the scope of the project. I ask that the masterplan included in the EIS be updated to show the shared path to make it consistent with the masterplan that was on display at the Public Consultation sessions.
Thank you for the opportunity to make these comments

I wish to present my concerns over the new Shellharbour Hospital.
1. Along with many members of the community I am concerned over the lack maternity services. Shellharbour and neighbouring communities have been without maternity services for approximately 20 years. It is not sufficient to suggest it might be considered at a future date.
2. It is not appropriate that a modern hospital does not have a helipad included in the original plans. There is a helipad attached to the existing hospital and by not providing one in the new precinct you are effectively downgrading available services.
3. Dunmore Road is a "one way in, one way out" street. There is a K-12 Anglican College near the start of the street that is congested between 0800-0900 and 1430-1530, five days a week, thereby making access and egress for emergency service vehicles difficult. An alternate route via Southern Cross Blvd is also difficult due to traffic and parking congestion caused by vehicles going to nearby Public School. It is imperative that additional access and egress to the hospital, preferably from the southern end, be included in the original planning.
4. Pedestrian access to and from the Shellharbour Junction Train Station will be difficult for the elderly, or those with children, due to the steep terrain in both directions. A flat walk behind the Anglican College, and parallel to the train line, should be considered.

I support the proposal to construct a new hospital in Shellharbour, however I have a concern that the traffic level through the only access road of Dunmore Rd will be excessive and the current traffic management system is inadequate for the expected hospital traffic.
The access road currently passes Shellharbour Anglican School and the recently released Shell Heights estate, in excess of 1400 heavy trucks per week from the Bass Point Quarry exits the quarry via Dunmore Rd (data is available to support this claim), school traffic at the start and end of the school day is significant and residents of the existing Shell Cove development via Southern Cross Boulevard all comprise a significant traffic volume.

Dunmore Rd was recently upgraded but the planning for this upgrade was finalised before the approval of the hospital was announced. Additionally the roundabout at the intersection of Dunmore Rd and Shellharbour Rd is extremely busy at all times of the day, traffic lights may be required at this location.

I also believe that an additional set of traffic lights may be necessary at Dunmore Rd & Buckleys Rd (near Southern Cross Boulevard).

Another suggestion is for the planners to consider a second access road from the southern end of Dunmore Rd connecting to the adjacent highway. It would be an efficient use of land if it were possible to have part of the hospital to be constructed above the adjacent railway line, this would increase the hospital footprint allowing for future expansion.

Given that Dunmore Road currently supports the Shellharbour Anglican College, the recycling centre, the Hanson Quarry, the fire brigade and is a main route for cyclists between Kiama and Shellharbour we cannot understand how more traffic can be added to an already busy group of roundabouts.
The entrance to the hospital should come from the highway, possibly using the existing exits near the old Dunmore station.

I believe the proposed new Hospital is definitely required in the area, however, the new plans MUST include a Paediatric ward due to the latest census showing there are over 19000 children in the Shellharbour LGA with the population of over 76000 people due to increase with new land releases in Shell Cove, Shellharbour, Calderwood and Albion Park in the next 12 months. I also believe the provision of just 6 ambulance bays is grossly inadequate. The plans indicate there is no provision made for a Helipad. This to me is outrageous. There should definitely be a Helipad as part of the proposal!
I have had a brief look at the Landscape plans and I would like to hope that you provide plenty of seating in the grounds and allow for staff areas outdoors such as the newly constructed ones at Wollongong Hospital. Staff need somewhere to eat or debrief outside in fresh air and should not be encouraged to eat at their desks or small indoor staff rooms. In such a high stress work area, the ED staff need somewhere to have time off the ED floor but other staff need that also. I am hoping the paths of travel for the patients and visitors comply with Australian Standards and do not require patients and visitors of all ages to walk long distances on steep inclines or declines in all weather conditions like currently experienced at Shoalhaven, Shellharbour and Wollongong Hospitals. You have an open site albeit it one with site conditions that will need to be addressed - please take the time to get the planning correct now.

I would like to formally request a reassessment of the Resilience and Hazards SEPP Risk Screening report submitted by Benbow Environmental Consultants for the following reasons:
1. The proximity of the VIE Tank Storage to the rail corridor and increased risk of fire and explosion from the freight trains which use the rail line at least twice per day.
2. The risk of derailment of a freight train as a result of suicide attempts from patients leaving the inpatient facility. Due to the shortage of beds, patients are discharged unwell and suicide is often impulsive. There has been 1588 suicides on the Australian Rail Network between 2001 - 2021 (Tracksafe Foundation) and suicides on the rail line in Minnamurra/Shellharbour in 2022.
3. Freight trains carrying Ethanol (highly flammable) materials and risk of storing highly flammable hospital gases being stored in VIE tanks within 6-10 metres of the rail line.
It seems highly ineffective that the rail line and freight trains have not been mentioned or assessed. This represents a significant risk for the residents of the area and people travelling on the road and rail near the hospital.

We have lived in the area for 2 years and have identified the following shortfalls resulting from moving to a regional area. The standard of medical care has been great but when necessary surgery is indicated, specialists tend to require you to go back to Sydney to a private hospital. This adds enormous stress and expense at a time when people are feeling vulnerable, and makes difficult the support of loved ones. Finding accommodation nearby becomes an expensive problem, particularly for pensioners.
The hospital needs to offer sufficiently high level of services and equipment that attracts specialists at the top of their game who are willing to commit to working in the area. This would reduce the need to return to Sydney for such care.
The area is populated by the whole spectrum of ages but there are significant numbers of retired people. A well equipped cardiology department, where prompt attention is key to survival would seem to be imperitive but there is no mention of that specifically in the list of services to be included.
Rail services to the area are also crucial to the success of the venture, both for staff, patients and family. I find the rail services particularly frustrating. An hour wait between available trains is really unacceptable for a growth area such as the Illawarra. I am 73 and have discovered lately that I often have to stand from Sutherland to Thirroul because the train is so full, particularly from 3pm on.
The single line from Shellharbour Junction heading north also means that any train going north can only keep to its schedule if the train coming south is on time. Upgrading of all the single track areas beteen the Illawarra and Sydney must be prioritised.
Unreliable train services will impact the type of people prepared to come and work in the Illawarra and Mount Ousley is a very unattractive road to have to travel on any regular basis for staff or supportive family members.
Also for a reason I would like to know, unnecessary time is taken by trains coming into Albion Park station. Five minutes could be trimmed off any trip if this is corrected. I assume it is a safety issue but surely it can be fixed.

Please refer to the attachments.

I request that the three access roads be named as per AS/NZS 4819-2011 Sec 4.2.1 (b). This will assist in way finding for users of the site and enable the roads to be included in navigation software. Application for naming of the roads will be made to Shellharbour Council and comply with our policy 'Naming and Addressing (Roads, Public Reserves, Parks, Sportsfields, Assets), NSW Address Policy and NSW Addressing User Manual.

Thanks for showing the maps for the new Shellharbour hospital. I can't see any TRAFFIC REPORT. Dunmore road is the only access to the hospital from the motorway and is not sufficient for access to the hospital. The road is a traffic jam around 9am and 3pm for the large Anglican school. The road is used by a large number of truck some laden with 100 tons of rock from Bass Point, and the road is more generally not wide enough for more traffic. The road passes through neighborhoods. We need to see a traffic report so that comments are meaningful.
It is likely that a new overpass will be needed at the Dunmore end of Dunmore Road. Has the budget included this expense?