Demolition of Old Gulgong hospital likely despite appeals

A development application from Health Infrastructure to demolish the building will be considered at Wednesday’s council meeting. 

The former Gulgong Hospital closed in 2010, with NSW Health citing workplace safety risks, security and the presence of asbestos in the building as reasons. 

It has been replaced by a HealthOne and Multi-Purpose Health Service (MPS).

Although the building has been partly demolished, members of the Save the Old Gulgong Hospital committee, chaired by Cr Percy Thompson, have lobbied for the building to be retained and restored for use by the community. 

In response to the demolition application, Mid-Western Regional Council has received 60 letters and a petition signed by 736 people, calling for the hospital to be retained for its historic and social significance. 

Fifty eight of the 60 letters received are form letters which were circulated at the Gulgong Markets. Twenty of the letters were signed by visitors from Sydney, Queensland, Grafton and Denman. 

In her submission, Save the Old Gulgong Hospital Building committee member Joan Tamburini said the support from tourists showed that visitors  want to see the building retained and restored. 

Mrs Tamburini said recent contact with the Heritage Office of NSW indicated the hospital is one of one three of its type left in the state, which would be protected under council’s local environmental plan. 

The cost of renovating the building has been estimated at $2 million, with a further $190,000 for annual maintenance. 

A conservation management plan prepared by John Blackwood Architects for the Western NSW Local Health District has found that as NSW Health’s main objective is to provide health care rather than maintain heritage buildings, if the building is to be conserved it should be transferred or sold to a government agency which is better able to preserve it. 

Council also received a letter from a Canberra stonemason, Laurence Thompson,  indicating that the building is a solid structure which would benefit from restoration. 

Council sought its own heritage assessment which has indicated that the building does have local significance and should not be demolished, providing there are no other reasons such as structural decay or health and safety. 

A report to council has recommended that the demolition be approved. 

The report notes that the DA is a crown development and under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, council cannot refuse an application or impose any conditions of consent without the minister’s or applicants’ approval. 

“The significance of the building is as a hospital and with the construction of the HealthOne Facility and MPS, the building is unlikely to be used for this purpose in future,” the report states.