THE PRESS TUESDAY, JULY 26, 1983. Progress on hospital

Press, 26 July 1983, Page 20

THE PRESS TUESDAY, JULY 26, 1983. Progress on hospital

The Cabinet’s approval for the next step in redeveloping Christchurch Hospital, given yesterday, is good news. Although a lot of paper work remains to be done and many details still have to be worked out, the last big hurdle in the way of the long-overdue redevelopment has been cleared. The North Canterbury Hospital Board has been authorised to obtain working drawings, detailed specifications, and a final estimate for the foundations of the new main block. Without further delays — and none are expected — contractors could be preparing for the foundations in about a year. The Cabinet also gave its approval for design work to proceed on the rest of the project

On hearing of the Cabinet’s decision, the chairman of the Hospital Board, Mr T. C. Grigg, said that he hoped it would be “plain sailing” from now on. The people of Christchurch will echo that sentiment. Old age has brought much of the existing building to a condition that no amount of maintenance can remedy. For some years now, the battle has been fought to prevent things getting worse. During these years, the ultimate replacement of the buildings has been accepted. Progress has been halting, mainly because of the cost. The cost is still in the region of $lOO million. The Minister of Health, Mr Malcolm, has sought to prune the figure back by about $lO million in the hope that the Cabinet would be better disposed towards the project if a saving of this order seemed possible, or at least as a demonstration that practicable economies have been made. A solution proposed by Mr Malcolm will require a realignment of the boundary between the hospital and Hagley Park. This means an exchange of land, about

340 square metres of the park being deeded to the Hospital Board and a slightly larger area of hospital land being transferred to the park. No such exchange could take place without the support of the Christchurch City Council, which found itself thrust into the issue and potentially responsible for further delays to the hospital redevelopment. To the council’s credit, support in principle for the exchange was swiftly forthcoming. Only seven working days have elapsed since the council, the Hospital Board, and the people of Christchurch were informed of the proposal. The opportunity to reduce the cost of the project by several million dollars and the council’s prompt response to the suggestion, must have made it easier for Mr Malcolm to get the Cabinet’s go-ahead. The Cabinet had delayed its approval for more than a year while the project was reviewed by a special committee and was likely to continue to delay until someone had showed that the most economical course was being followed. The Cabinet’s decision yesterday is an acknowledgement that it is satisfied all practicable steps have been taken to reduce expense. The review committee’s report will be available to the Hospital Board this week and to the public in about a fortnight. Some of the report’s significance has been diminished by the Cabinet’s decision. Fortunately for the people of Christchurch, this also means that the report is no longer likely to become the cause of seemingly interminable wrangles. These would have further delayed a start to the hospital redevelopment. The direct approach by Mr Malcolm and the quick response from the City Council have cut through a lot of red tape to the benefit of all.