Border residents had a chance to grill the Albury hospital redevelopment project team on Wednesday, with mixed views from the dozens who attended information sessions at Wodonga and Albury.
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The biggest concerns from both sides of the border focused on car parking, whether or not a greenfield site should still be considered and whether a revamped Albury hospital would cater for the region's expected population growth.
At Wodonga Plaza, mayor Ron Mildren who has been fighting for a greenfield site rather than redeveloping the existing hospital, attended in an unofficial capacity.
"I'm here to tell people what the facts are," Mr Mildren said. "But I've certainly heard a few concerns here, for example, how you can make a renovation of the existing site work with all the different constraints that apply to the site, and then make it actually function during a construction phase?
"Many of the people that I'm speaking to here today are really concerned about this issue, they fundamentally think that this process is going about everything the wrong way."
On the other side of the Murray, however, Albury retirees David and Jenny Tulk said they just wanted to see the dust settle over the contentious issue and see the redevelopment go ahead.
"In Wodonga, they think that they're going to get the greenfield site - that mayor over there thinks that they're a monty to get it," Mr Tulk said.
"He stands up on TV and demands all these things and says he's the voice of the people, well, he hasn't asked me, he's not my voice.
"It's there to renovate to a good standard so let's get that done, this pipe dream of a greenfield site sometime, you can add 10 to 15 years before you open the doors."
Mrs Tulk, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma 10 years ago, said she had confidence the revamped hospital would meet community needs.
"We've never had an issue with the Albury base hospital," she said. "You need to build up the original. We don't want a greenfield site, we want this built properly to a good standard."
At the Wodonga Plaza session, Daysdale resident Kylie Davison said her biggest concern was car parking.
"The redevelopment would be good if they get a five-storey car park, that would solve a lot of problems," she said. "If we can't get a new hospital on a greenfield site, go with this one, but we have to push for a multi-level car park."
A Wodonga resident who didn't want to be named, questioned the value of the information session.
"Is there any information here today, other than the premiers making an announcement last year?" he asked. "We know they're doing a master plan but they can't say where the car park's going to be, they can't say where the helipad is going to be, we don't know where the critical services block is going to be.
"They tell us the master plan is being formed, that they're working on stuff, but they can't give us any information. The anxiety that the community has is: Where are we going to be in 20 years' time?"
That sentiment was echoed by Kiewa retiree Findlay Mitchell who said he had watched the saga unfold since it started 10 years ago.
"The population of this region is expanding, there are housing estates going up everywhere," he said. "Albury is growing, all up the valley to the snowfields, little towns, and I can't see building or renovating the existing site and closing one is is going to cater for the future.
"You've got to stop and think about how you do things for the future, I mean I'm on the wrong end of the train line, but we need to know that this will cater for future generations, that's what sticks in my mind.
"They're selling a concept but at this stage it just seems to be a concept - they're not being clear as to what the future holds."
NSW Health Infrastructure senior project director Steve Hall at the Wodonga session said he had fielded questions on many subjects but there was a common theme.
"Parking has come up a lot this morning, understandably, because people want to know that they can access the hospital easily," Mr Hall said. "Parking is definitely one of the one of the objectives in the planning which is ongoing, that's why we're having these sessions - to listen.
"I think (before the Wodonga Plaza session) we've spoken to about 400 people and given various presentations, we've met with Wodonga and Albury councils, now we're talking to more people."
At the Albury session, finance broker Nick Driver said he did not go to Lavington Square "to talk politics", but just wanted to get the facts on what was being presented.
"I hear people saying it's not sufficient money, we should have a greenfield site because there's not sufficient money to achieve what they have proposed," he said.
When asked if the information session convinced him there was enough money, Mr Driver said: "They made it easier for me to think that it might be.
"I can see that it can be achieved, I suppose, but whether it's going to be sufficient for future growth, I'm not quite convinced."
North Albury retiree Erica Dowding said she had been following the issue and ventured to Lavington Square because she was curious to find out more.
"I came down here to find out if they weren't going to build on the old hospital, where would they find a spot to build a new hospital?" she said.
"But there's no answer to that here because they're talking about what they're going to do with the existing site.
"I just think the hospital has got a lot of amenities where it is and it's definitely not big enough and they seem to think that they can build it successfully on the same spot.
"I think the biggest problem is the car parking. I asked where the parking will be and they said the plan is ongoing.
"If the parking turns out to be satisfactory, I think it's okay, go ahead on the same site."
Albury Wodonga Health director of capital redevelopment Susan Medlin said she was pleased with the level of engagement from the Border community.
"There's a lot of concern and mixed views, a lot of excitement, concerns around cross border, is the building going to be big enough?" she said.
"I think those are all fantastic comments that we now take back into our master planning process and and then come back to the community in the near future with some of the outcomes.
"We'll continue to engage with the community so they, they are informed about what we're doing and where we're going. So I think all in all, we're very pleased with today's outcomes."
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