Bathurst Regional Council is currently considering plans lodged by Health Infrastructure NSW to build the new $4.6 million station on a 6132 square metre site at 6 Commonwealth Street.

The Australian Paramedics Association has previously raised concerns about the site’s proximity to the Bathurst Sewage Treatment Plant and the potential for staff at the station to be subjected to foul odour wafting across from the facility.

Now the Health Services Union, which also represents paramedics working in Bathurst, has weighed in with its own concerns.

While echoing fears about the likelihood of foul smells at the new ambulance station, HSU Central West sub-branch ambulance division president Craig Parsons also accused the state government of penny pinching over the design of the station.

He said the new facility would be expected to house more staff than the current ambulance station in William Street but did not provide any more space.

Mr Parsons was also worried by the potential for flooding at the new site.

“There are currently 22 staff downstairs at the Bathurst station plus four more upstairs in the sector office,” Mr Parsons said.

“They will be moving everybody to Commonwealth Street, while also bringing the education unit down from CSU.

“That means that every three days eight to 10 officers from around the district will also be in the building doing training.

“They will all be going into a new building that is basically the same size as the station that is overcrowded now.”

When plans for the new Bathurst ambulance station were announced in 2015, then Health Minister Jillian Skinner said the current station in William Street was “no longer big enough”.

At that stage the budget for a new station was $6.6 million – well above the $4.6 million budget now being used.

Mr Parsons said the new ambulance station was not suitable for a growing region.

“This is penny pinching by the government and they are not taking into account the real concerns of the paramedics who will be working there,” he said.

“There is no scope in the plans for increasing the size to house more staff if needed down the track.”