It's taken the Manning Great Lakes Community Health Action Group four and a half years to amass the 10,000 signatures needed to have their petition announced in NSW Parliament, but it has finally happened.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It has taken that long to gather that amount of signatures because of the COVID pandemic, but the group was never going to give up.
The petition calls on the state government for increased funding for Manning Base Hospital to have stages two and three of the hospital's redevelopment to be completed in their entirety.
The petition now has around 11,000 signatures, 700 of those being gathered at the Wallamba District Show at Nabiac recently.
"We've had an unbelievable response from the community, and that includes Gloucester, Bulahdelah, Wingham, the Great Lakes... it's been unbelievable," MGLCHAG member, Eddie Wood said.
Funding for Stage two of the redevelopment was originally announced in 2020 by the then NSW Coalition government, with work expected to start in 2021.
"That 100 million dollars was originally put out in 2020 for Stage two, and it's now 2024. And there's not $1 of that money been spent yet," Mr Wood said.
"And that $100 million, we've costed it out, is only worth $69 point something million with building costs gone up.
"There has been absolutely no communication from Hunter New England (Local Health District) or the Health Department in regards to (the Manning Base Hospital) redevelopment. None whatsoever. And it's an absolute disgrace.
"Nobody knows anything.
"We've become the forgotten hospital in Hunter New England."
What next?
The MGLCHAG will pass the petition on to Member for Myall Lakes, Tanya Thompson to be tabled in NSW Parliament.
"We want as many people when that petition goes down, because a lot of hard work has gone into it to argue for our case with the people of the Manning Great Lakes area," Mr Wood said.
Julia Driscoll
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times for seven years. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Career highlights have involved environmental stories - bringing the plight of the little known endangered Manning River helmeted turtle to the attention of the public, resulting in wide-spread knowledge in the community and conservation action; and breaking the news of the Manning River ceasing to run for the first time in recorded history.
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times for seven years. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Career highlights have involved environmental stories - bringing the plight of the little known endangered Manning River helmeted turtle to the attention of the public, resulting in wide-spread knowledge in the community and conservation action; and breaking the news of the Manning River ceasing to run for the first time in recorded history.
