Gosford Hospital’s new car park will be a cash cow
GOSFORD Hospital’s new multistorey carpark promises to be the cash cow that keeps on giving when it opens early next year reaping millions of dollars a year for the government.
GOSFORD Hospital’s new multistorey carpark promises to be the cash cow that keeps on giving when it opens early next year reaping millions of dollars a year for the government.
That is once it pays off its $35.5 million price tag.
An Express Advocate reader has crunched the numbers after this newspaper exclusively revealed how much patients, staff and visitors will pay to use the new six-storey car park.
In a letter to the paper a reader pointed out that even at conservative costings the new car park would generate millions of dollars for NSW Health.
“Allowing for only 600 spaces being used at just $6 an hour over only 10 hours generates more than $13 million a year,” she wrote.
NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner and former Treasurer, now Premier, Gladys Berejiklian announced a new 800-space multistorey car park would be part of the hospital’s redevelopment in June 2016.
But the government only committed $15 million towards he car park cost in that year’s state budget.
A Central Coast Local Health District spokeswoman confirmed this week the fees collected by the car park would go towards clawing back the $20.5 million construction shortfall.
“Carparking fees are used for both operating and maintenance costs of Gosford Hospital’s car parks in addition to supporting the operation of the District’s services,” she said.
“Fees from the new multistorey car park will also be used to cover the cost of its construction.”
While the first 15 minutes will be free, the new multistorey car park fees will see visitors and patients slugged $6.70 for parking from 15 minutes to an hour.
The fees increase hourly until five hours when the maximum daily rate is $19.90.
The new car park will open with 679 spaces and increase to 805 spaces when the new Medical School and Research Institute is built.
Some concessions will be made for eligible patients and their carers, who require long-term hospitalisation.
The car park, which will feature electronic messaging to let drivers know where and how many spaces are available, will be managed by third-party contractor Secure Parking.
The car park’s revenue raising revelations comes as a doctor was fined three times in two days, including twice in one day, as parking in streets around the precinct reach a crisis point.
Doctor Tanya Kelly concedes she parked wrongly in a “no stopping” zone on Kendall St but said she was desperate for a park before her 8am shifts.
She said she got one fine under her windscreen wiper two days running and a third arrived a couple of days later in the mail for one of the same days.
She said that fine was later waived.
A Central Coast Council spokeswoman said parking inspectors would usually put a fine on someone’s windscreen if they themselves could find a safe place to park.
Otherwise they would take a photo of the offending vehicle and send it with the fine notice in the mail.
Dr Kelly said parking had become “ridiculous” around the hospital while it was under construction.
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