Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith at the Griffith site for a new community health centre: “Blocks of land were few and far between.” Photos: Ian Bushnell.
The site for a community health centre in the inner south has been selected, but it could be a contentious choice.
The ACT Government has opened public consultation on the proposed $22 million project to be built on open space behind the Griffith shops on the corner of Throsby Crescent and Throsby Lane.
But twice in the past 15 years, plans to build on the site have foundered after stiff community opposition.
In 2010 the French-Australian Preschool wanted to move from its Red Hill premises to a new campus in Griffith and the community fought to preserve the park and playground.
Then, in 2018, the government wanted to move a reluctant Manuka child care centre there, but that failed too.
This time, though, a public facility is proposed.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said some older trees would need to be removed, young ones would be transplanted, and the playground would be rebuilt nearby.
The old City Services deport at one end of the site would also be demolished as part of a revamp of the entire site that would include new stormwater infrastructure.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the government had investigated whether existing facilities could be refurbished to house a health centre. However, there wasn’t anything appropriate, and blocks of land were few and far between.
“We’re looking at a complete redesign of this space to incorporate the stormwater project that City Services already had in mind, which was probably going to require relocation of the playground in any case, the health centre and a new playground to ensure that this facility is really making the most of the space,” she said.
“We’ll be rebuilding the playground, and we’ll be ensuring that the health centre also integrates with other community facilities.”
A map of the area in Griffith shows where the health centre would be located. Image: ACT Government.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the design work would decide where the centre would be sited on the block, and that would also guide how many trees would need to be removed.
The Griffith Narrabundah Community Association is in the early stages of consultation but has already flagged concerns about staff and public car parking, public transport accessibility, the importance of maintaining urban open space and security.
GNCA treasurer Paul Russell said many members had concerns about the appropriateness of the site behind the shops.
“It’s a public open space, and we’re obviously concerned that they stay on the footprint of the community facility land,” he said.
Mr Russell said the parking would need to be underground because the site was not big enough for a 13-suite health centre.
The nearest bus stop was about 400 metres away.
Mr Russell said the community had no idea what services would be offered and what level of security may be required.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the site would need to be rezoned for a health facility and it was hoped the centre would open in 2027.
Services it may offer would be part of the consultation, but the network of health centres the government was building mainly provided nursing and allied health services, “so it might be anything from podiatry to dentistry, to community nursing to physiotherapists”, Ms Stephen-Smith explained.
She said the inner south had a large ageing population, so those kinds of services were also being considered.
While a general practice was not in the mix for now, Ms Stephen-Smith said that and any other potential service needed to be part of the conversation with the community.
“We want to hear about people’s engagement with the health system and what they think the demographics for this community means in terms of healthcare needs,” she said.
“We’ll be bringing that information from the community together with what we know about the demographics of this area and what we know about the health services that are accessed by people in the inner south.”
The ageing City Services depot in Griffith will be demolished.
The proposed Griffith centre is one of five community health centres the government plans to operate.
The others are the existing one in Coombs in Molonglo and the proposed facilities in Conder in south Tuggeranong, Casey in north Gungahlin, and west Belconnen.
The 2024-25 Budget included $52.8 million to fund the design and construction of the inner south and North Gungahlin Health Centres and the design of a West Belconnen Health Centre.
The 2023-24 Budget funded the design and construction of the South Tuggeranong Health Centre, where services will include paediatrics, pathology, dementia care and community nursing.
The community health centres are meant to complement the nurse-led Walk-in Centres for emergency care.
The government had committed to a Walk-in Centre for the Inner South in 2020, but Ms Stephen-Smith said that it would now depend on whether the community saw a need for one.
She said both types of facilities were part of the government’s goal of keeping people well in the community and out of hospital.
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