4 December 2000

Auckland Healthcare Acute Services Building Gets Consent

A new acute services facility at Auckland Healthcare’s Grafton Road site has been approved by a panel of planning commissioners after two days of hearings.

Planning Fixtures sub-committee chairperson, Councillor Juliet Yates says consent has been given for an acute services building, carparking building and associated works at 2 Park Road.

“We carefully considered all issues and have granted consent subject to 58 conditions. We have gone to tremendous trouble to lessen the impact of the buildings on the Auckland Domain,” she said. “As a result, the size of the proposed carpark building will be reduced by about half and it will be clad and painted so that it is more compatible with the environs.”

Cr Yates says other measures will assist pedestrians in Park Road, reduce traffic congestion and protect the street environment. These include the promotion of public transport for staff and off-site staff carparking. Visitor parking will be provided on site.

“The promotion of alternatives will help minimise impacts on the street network at peak times,” she said.

”We considered this to be important since the proposed building is likely to be completed before the Transit motorway development in Grafton Gully and well in advance of any nearby rapid transit route.”

Cr Yates said lack of space precluded planting to screen the carparking building from the Domain and the longer term future of some of the Domain trees was anyway uncertain because they were in the path of the preferred rapid transit route.

“We concluded that the best approach was to reduce the size of the building and improve its appearance,” she added.

The acute services building will serve as an important regional, national and international hub for health services, including intensive care, neurosurgery, organ transplantation and paediatrics.

The new facilities are expected to meet future health needs arising from factors that include a rapidly growing and ageing population, the increasing complexity of associated clinical demands and technological change.

In a report to the commissioners, Dr Nigel Murray said Auckland Healthcare provided tertiary health services to more than one million people in the greater Auckland region and is Auckland’s largest employer with about 7,500 staff. About 5,500 staff will be employed on the Grafton site following the development.

ENDS
For further information please contact:
Cr Juliet Yates, tel: 528 0581 or 025 289 0623
For plans or diagrams, please contact:
ACE project manager Graeme Michie, tel: 353 9313

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