A DAY can be a long time in politics.
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Tuesday’s NSW Budget revealed no mention of the $2 million promised for an upgrade to Gunnedah’s hospital.
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But last night, Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson confirmed the money is there.
“I met with the Health Minister [Jillian Skinner] today,” Mr Anderson told the Namoi Valley Independent last night.
“The reason why it wasn’t in the Budget under the Budget’s listed projects is that it was included under a $2 million investment by Hunter New England Health. It wasn’t specifically listed.
“The money has gone to them and it is good to go.
“It is bloody fantastic. It was absolutely great to get that confirmed.”
Chairwoman of the Gunnedah Health Advisory Committee and Gunnedah Shire councillor Colleen Fuller said she was “dancing down the main street with joy”.
“I can’t believe that this can happen in 24 hours,” she said.
“Kevin told me yesterday he was going to talk to the Health Minister and I said ‘well you had better tell her she’d better find some money’.
“We are all jumping for joy.
“Kevin is over the moon and I am over the moon.”
Mr Anderson said he “had it in writing”, and planning could begin soon for the scope of the work.
“It could be implemented in 2016-17 or 2017-18,” he said.
“We are now in the planning stage and when they start breaking brick is a matter for them.”
Cr Fuller said she understood the money would be spent on the old section of the hospital.
“It will be used for renovations to my knowledge,” she said.
“The plan is to develop the cost of that area.”
The $2 million is unlikely to go further than renovations to the hospital, and Cr Fuller said the pressure was still on to meet a growing need for equipment such as a dialysis machine, and a TENS machine used to relieve pain in cancer patients.
She said recent calls for a dialysis machine had been compounded by an increase in the number of people who needed the treatment.
Cr Fuller said two carloads of people from Gunnedah were now travelling to Tamworth three times a week for treatment.
While the hospital was not specifically mentioned for funding in Tuesday’s Budget, a number of other local projects were.
The Budget included $3 million for planning for the second rail overpass.
Construction is already under way on a roundabout that will be part of the project.
The Budget also included $200,000 as the first installment towards a $5.5 million upgrade to Gunnedah’s police station.
Road funding listed $1.15 million for an upgrade of the Kamilaroi Highway near Breeza, $660,000 for an upgrade of the Kamilaroi Highway south-east of Gunnedah, and $554,000 to be spent on road maintenance within Gunnedah Shire.
