Park narks v sick children: Site uproar threatens world-class new Women’s and Children’s Hospital

A WCH and heritage advocate says the site for the future hospital is the “only place for it” and debates over parklands protection are “all a bit precious”. Do you agree? Join the conversation.

A Women’s and Children’s Hospital and heritage advocate says the site for the future hospital is the “only place for it” and debates over parklands protection are “all a bit precious”.

Professor Warren Jones said the Thebarton Police Barracks was the only suitable site for the $3.2bn hospital, after Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor raised concerns it would jeopardise the parkland’s national heritage listing.

“What people don’t understand is there is no other place for the hospital, the other sites are all either unworkable or financially unviable,” Prof Jones said.

The heritage-listed police barracks would be demolished, but he said the government had confirmed the olive grove, Old Adelaide Gaol and Kate Cocks Park would not be affected.

“No one is going to agree on this. There does come a time when you have to make your mind up whether you want a safe hospital for women and children or whether you want to stuff it down Port Rd somewhere,” Prof Jones said.

Ms Verschoor believed the parklands’ national heritage listing could be jeopardised if Kate Cocks Park was affected – council maps of the parklands indicate part of it would be – following advice from the Australian Heritage Council.

Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor announcing plans for re-election in the 2022 Adelaide city council elections. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Independent Senator for South Australia Rex Patrick. Picture: NCA Newswire / Andrew Taylor

The advice for the Riverbank Code Amendment in 2021, which included Kate Cocks Park and the area around the hospital, found new developments would alienate the parklands within the heritage-listed boundaries.

Ms Verschoor, who is chair of the Park Land’s Authority, Kadaltilla, said the new hospital could “severely compromise” the heritage status.

“The reason it has national heritage listing is around the fact that it is a continuous belt of parklands and it’s the most complete example of 19th century colonial planning.”

Ms Verschoor was “completely in favour” of a new hospital and said the existing WCH site in North Adelaide should be a stand-alone paediatric hospital. She said a women’s unit should be added to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

It follows mayoral candidate Rex Patrick calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the WCH plan to analyse its impact on heritage and parklands, as well as its cost and delivery.

Mr Patrick said Premier Peter Malinauskas’ previous comment that only a minority were in support of the parklands was “disingenuous” as it “ignores the parliamentary majorities that legislated to protect the parklands and heritage sites”.

Artist impressions of the Women's and Children's Hospital planned for Adelaide. Picture: SA Government

Committee for Adelaide chief executive Bruce Djite said the state needed a hospital that was future proof, “but is this the absolute optimum site, I don’t know”.

More broadly he said it had be “nauseating to hear the amount of outcry for anything progressive in the state”.

“If you look at the past, the outcomes of listening to or actioning what minority voices say has materially damaged the brand of SA,” Mr Djite said.

Mr Malinauskas said the government’s focus for the build was on land which was “largely closed off to the public”.

“The government has made the judgment that it is in the long-term interests of South Australians to build the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital on the SAPOL Barracks site so that both the new WCH and the RAH will have room to expand in the future,” he said.

“I am determined to make the hard decisions to set our state up for the long term.”

Mayoral candidate Jane Lomax-Smith said the government’s WCH plan was “open ended” and included ‘room to expand’ which meant “anything else the government might propose on adjacent Adelaide parklands”.