Councillor set for groundbreaking boycott

A city councillor is set to boycott a ceremonial groundbreaking event to mark the construction of the new $117.9 million Busselton Health Campus tomorrow.

Vasse MLA and Treasurer Troy Buswell, Deputy Premier and Health Minister Kim Hames and Member for South West Colin Holt will take part in the ceremony to celebrate the milestone in the development of the new hospital.

However, Busselton City councillor David Binks has announced he will not attend the ceremony amid his concerns the new hospital will not adequately provide for the community.

“I believe the community has been conned by those more interested in furthering their political careers than genuinely providing for the City’s immediate and future health needs,” Cr Binks said in a statement last Thursday.

He said the hospital was deficient in a number of areas and failed to adequately provide for a rapidly expanding population and address a number of issues including aged care, chemotherapy and high dependency needs.

“As a representative of the community I will not stand there at the groundbreaking ceremony and pretend that this new hospital is what our community needs,” Cr Binks said.

“This is not a good healthcare outcome for our community.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Conservation started relocating about 20 Western Ringtail Possums from the Mill Road site last week.

Busselton Health Campus re-development project co-ordinator Rory Stemp said the designs for the hospital had enabled the department to reduce the number of trees that would be removed.

“At the moment we expected to remove 154 peppermint trees and 45 other species,” he said.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act approval allowed up to 156 peppermint trees to be removed and a DEC clearing permit allowed the removal of up to 234 native trees.

At least 350 more peppermint trees will have to be replanted on the site.

Mr Stemp said the tender for the rehabilitation of four hectares in the Tuart Forest National Park, required as one of the project’s environmental offsets, has been advertised for consultants.

He said the tender required the type of vegetation to be consistent with the original habitat, which was likely to include peppermint trees.

Busselton Dunsborough Environment Centre convenor Alison Cassanet said she still had concerns about the ability for the trans-located possums to survive in their new habitat.

Mrs Cassanet questioned the rationale behind the decision and said the possums could be left at the existing site to “naturally disperse”.