General News
18 August, 2023
Ambulance station report 'an internal document'
By CHRIS EARL THE State Government has refused to release a 2016 report it claims declared the old Inglewood ambulance station unsafe. Community protesters have demanded to see the report as they battle Government demolition plans of the 1980s brick...
By CHRIS EARL
THE State Government has refused to release a 2016 report it claims declared the old Inglewood ambulance station unsafe.
Community protesters have demanded to see the report as they battle Government demolition plans of the 1980s brick building.
However, the Department of Health this week said the building assessment report was an internal document.
The Loddon Herald has now lodged a Freedom of Information request to access the document.
A petition to stave demolition has already gained more than 500 signatures.
Campaign leaders including Faye Orange, Howard Rochester, Bev Taig and Colleen Condliffe have been in the Inglewood IGA foyer over the past week gathering support.
The petition follows a protest outside the old station earlier last week. Signs calling for the building to be saved had been left outside the building but later disappeared.
Some community members have called for the 1980s brick building to be made available to Inglewood and Districts Health Service as office space or converted into accommodation or a child care centre to benefit the community.
Faye said the community had been kept in the dark on demolition plans.
And while Howard said he was confident people power would gain the ear of decision makers, a sit-in to prevent the wrecker’s ball knocking down the building remained a possibility. He claimed there had been indications Ambulance Victoria may be prepared to hold community consultation.
However, the Health Department on Monday denied there were plans for a community meeting or consultation.
Fellow protester Colleen Condliffe said: “We have had hundreds of people sign the petition. We need all the buildings possible at the moment and there has been no evidence offered as to why this building should be demolished.”
Work started late last year on the new station that is contained within a gated block of land adjoining the old station.
The State Government said a 2016 report had shown there was asbestos in the old station but has refused to release that finding.
Late on Sunday a Department of Health spokesperson said: “We have continued to monitor and maintain the old building to ensure the safety of our paramedics while work to prepare and build the new station is underway.”
The spokesperson said “The 2016 report on the building was “an independent document prepared for internal purposes to help inform the Department of Health on the condition of the building and its suitability for ongoing, long-term use.
“Asbestos testing is undertaken prior to any demolition,” they said.
Northern Victoria Region MP Gaelle Broad in State Parliament this month asked Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas to intervene and hold talks on saving the building.