CONSTRUCTION is on track to see the new ambulance station completed by the end of January, 2019.
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Member for Bathurst Paul Toole, along with NSW Ambulance Central West zone manager Superintendent Brad Porter, visited the site of the new facility on Tuesday morning to take a look at the progress.
Construction started on a greenfield site in Commonwealth Street at the start of May after plans were approved in February.
As of Tuesday, the structural steel had been put in place and preparations are underway to put the roof on.
Mr Toole said the structure had come up quite quickly and it would only be a matter of time before it was complete and ready to be used by the city’s paramedics.
“It is going to be a modern, first-class facility that is going to make a big difference in providing health care to residents across this region,” he said.
Once complete, the new facility will include internal parking for up to 10 emergency vehicles, administration and office areas, amenities, logistics and storage areas, a fleet maintenance area, external wash bay, advanced training complex and staff parking.
Mr Toole noted that the new ambulance station would not only provide a better space for paramedics to work from, but would also protect the assets like the emergency vehicles and the specialist equipment.
Superintendent Porter said NSW Ambulance was excited to see the new ambulance station moving closer to completion, as the existing one on William Street just couldn’t keep up nearly 90 years after it was built.
“Our workflow has certainly grown in that 88 years and we’ve outgrown the size of our current station, so this one will house us both today, but into the future for the region of Bathurst,” he said.
Although there had been some uproar over the chosen location, near the waste treatment plant, when it was first announced, Superintendent Porter said the site was still suitable for a number of reasons.
This included the time it could save responding to emergency calls.
Construction of the facility is being carried out by Hines Constructions, a Bathurst-based company.
Director David Hines said that around 20 people were working on site five days a week, but that number would likely increase to 30 or more in the coming months as construction gets closer to the deadline.
“The construction program, if we don’t have any hold ups, will be finished by the end of January,” he said.
