Plans for brand new Medical Centre to be built in Whitianga.

An agreement has been reached for a parcel of land which is the proposed site of a new medical facility in Mercury Bay. The agreement will now require Council approval at its next meeting on 29 June. This follows successful discussions between Whitianga Waterways and our Council for the site on Joan Gaskell Drive, Whitianga.

The site is approximately 4000m2 and situated on the north side of Joan Gaskell Drive, past Kupe Drive, with Whitianga Waterways making the land available to the Mercury Bay community, at no cost to ratepayers.

"We’re very excited to be involved in the development of the new centre and if that meant making land available, we were happy to assist," says Whitianga Waterways Project Manager Peter Abrahamson.

“I would certainly like to acknowledge the Board of Whitianga Waterways for the huge contribution they have made. It has always been a desire to see a new centre built in town and this is a great result for the area” says Mr Abrahamson. "I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of TCDC for the work they have put in. This centre will belong to the people of the wider Mercury Bay area and it is up to them now to help make it happen," he says.

"We thank Waterways for this truly great gesture in making land available for a Medical Centre, which will be of benefit to all our communities," says Mayor Glenn Leach.

"The idea for a Medical Centre in Whitianga has been a long time in the making. In the past few years there have been many discussions behind the scenes with local medical practitioners in Whitianga, the Waikato District Health Board and Whitianga Waterways to get to this stage," says Mayor Leach. "I applaud Mercury Bay Community Board Chair Paul Kelly, along with Mercury Bay Councillors Tony Fox and Murray McLean for their work investigating how a facility could operate and work and I thank them too for their efforts and facilitation on this, along with the support from the Mercury Bay Community Board.

"As well as our communities benefiting from a Medical Centre, all development within the community will benefit also," says the Mayor. "Now that we are going to have certainty over where the medical facility will be built, we can start meeting with community and stakeholder groups to get feedback and involvement in the project going forward."

The facility will be developed, owned and operated by a Charitable Trust, with general practitioners and other healthcare providers being tenants. So along with doctors, additional services that could be provided for include chiropractic, podiatry, physiotherapy, counselling, dental, psychologist and other visiting specialist services.

The Charitable Trust will be responsible for all aspects of the development from obtaining funding, resource consents, building of the centre, and on-going ownership and operation once complete.

Once the Trust is up and running, Council will have no involvement in the running or management of the facility. However, in the preparatory stages, the project will be managed by Mercury Bay Area Manager Allan Tiplady and the Mercury Bay Community Board.

The Board has ring-fenced $250,000 towards investigation work for the Medical Centre. These funds will be used to establish the Trust, prepare a detailed implementation plan, progress detailed design, planning and cost estimates, deal with resource consent requirements, develop strategies for securing funding for the development of the centre, working with the medical practitioners and health authorities, determining ongoing operation and management structures and communications. This money will be the Board's contribution towards the development of the facility and this early phase work is expected to take at least a year to complete

“We’ve also had preliminary discussions with all the medical practitioners in Whitianga, as well as discussions with the Primary Health Organisation, who have all indicated interest in operating out of such a facility,” says Mayor Leach.

“Twelve sites were considered for a Medical Centre and this one is favoured because of the nil land cost, direct access from the main entrance road into and out of town, its central location in Whitianga and close to ambulance and rescue helicopter services,” says the Mayor.

With an agreement between Whitianga Waterways and our Council for the land ready to go, we are now in a position to discuss with communities how everyone can get involved with the development of the Medical Centre and turn the concept into a reality.

Council will need to sign off on the agreement at its next meeting and the document will then be made publicly available.

ENDS

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