Mayor, Paula Wriedt welcomed the announcement that the State Government had formed its new Cabinet and called on the Premier to support the need for improved health, emergency and sporting facilities in Kingborough.
“Council is keen to see work progress on the $30 million upgrade of the Kingston Health Centre announced by the State Government in last year’s budget,” Cr Wriedt said.
“Ideally the upgrade would lead to the creation of an Urgent Care Clinic to service the needs of Kingborough and Huon Valley communities, reducing pressure on the Royal Hobart Hospital, but also easing ongoing traffic congestion for residents travelling from this region to the city.
“I would urge the new Government to make this a priority sooner, rather than later,” Cr Wriedt said.
“Several months ago the State Government undertook a preliminary assessment to establish an Emergency Services Hub in Kingborough which will include Police, Fire, Ambulance and the State Emergency Service. The hub would not only provide additional space and contemporary facilities for our first responders, but would also see an SES presence in the municipality for the first time.
“We know there is a need in the community for this type of service, on many occasions we have heard collectively as a Council of the time delays in providing adequate medical emergency support for our community, as well as the lack of space at the Kingston Police Station for their staff – they are simply bursting at the seams and cannot accommodate any additional allocation of officers within the constraints of their existing location.
“An Emergency Services Hub in Kingborough would be of great benefit to everyone in our municipality and the Huon, particularly during a major emergency or natural disaster, providing a space for a co-ordinated response through an incident control centre.
“We are aware that the State Government’s preferred location was identified as Council’s works depot on the Channel Highway in Kingston (opposite the United Service Station adjacent to Bunnings).
“It’s great that the State Government has responded to our calls for this type of emergency services hub in Kingborough, but now we need them to make this a reality by funding the relocation of the depot facilities to free up the land and to look at funding the Spring Farm connector road to provide the necessary linkage for emergency vehicles to get from the site to the Huon Highway.
“Throughout successive elections, Council has also been calling out for funding help to support Kingborough’s sporting infrastructure in light of significant growth in the area.
“Indeed, the Kingborough Sports Centre precinct houses 33 different sporting clubs and with participants coming from further than just Kingborough and the Huon the area is servicing a potential catchment of over 100,000 people.
“We are literally bursting at the seams at the Kingborough Sports Centre, and there is no room for teams such as Basketball, Netball, Pickleball, Volleyball, Futsal, Badminton or Walking Football to expand.
“We are calling on funding to support the construction of two new multipurpose indoor courts which would allow the expansion of these and other sporting teams.
“Every election for the last 15 years we have seen significant promises being made for sporting infrastructure in many other municipalities with much smaller populations, especially in the North and North West of the State, yet little has been allocated to the Southern region where the most population growth has been.
“It’s time to address this inequity and support our active communities,” Cr Wriedt said.