“Council is disappointed and frustrated that the [Lismore Base] hospital administration has not responded to the genuine concerns of their staff…” - Lismore Mayor Jenny Dowell
Lismore City Council (LCC) has weighed in to the stoush over the lack of adequate and affordable car parking for Lismore Base Hospital (LBH) staff.
Lismore Mayor Jenny Dowell and LCC’s Manager of Development & Compliance, Peter Jeuken, issued a strong statement expressing concern about “the failure of Lismore Base Hospital to provide support for its employees and ensure adequate parking is available for staff.”
They criticised both hospital management and the NSW Government for failing to make suitable parking arrangements in the busy hospital precinct.
Their comments followed criticism of LBH management by the Health Services Union, angered by plans for LBH to charge fees of $7 per day for staff parking at the car park in Uralba Street, due to open in late April. According to the union, 700 staff members have applied for 300 spaces in the new car park building.
A fee scheme will also be introduced by LCC for non-resident parking in the crowded streets surrounding the hospital.
Stung by criticism that it had a major role in providing safe and affordable parking for hospital staff, Cr Dowell and Mr Jeuken said, “Council adopted a parking strategy last December for the precinct surrounding the Lismore Base Hospital in response to resident concerns and to work in collaboration with NSW Health and the Lismore Base Hospital in developing the hospital expansion.”
They said a tabled Council report on parking infrastructure had made it clear that “hospital administration would manage the parking needs of hospital staff, and that concerns for hospital staff parking expressed by the Health Services Union needed to be resolved between the Union and the hospital administration."
According to Mr Jeuken, “Council has recently been advised that hospital administration have not yet finalised their parking solutions for staff.
“Since December we have made repeated requests for meetings with hospital management to provide options and possible solutions in response to their discussions and negotiations with staff.
“It is frustrating that Council has not received any response from the hospital administration to those repeated requests and offers of assistance.
"In the absence of an employer being willing to respond to the needs of their employees and engage with Council in developing solutions, it is not up to Council to resolve industrial disputes, and our door remains open to resolve any issues directly with hospital management."
Mayor Dowell said, "Council is disappointed and frustrated that the hospital administration has not responded to the genuine concerns of their staff to date, as we were assured that the hospital would manage these concerns if Council adopted a parking strategy in support of the hospital redevelopment.
“We have the parking needs of hospital staff, visitors and local residents to balance, and once again it appears the state government is wiping its hands and shifting responsibility for a problem to local government.
“Now the hospital's failure to provide adequate parking for their staff is presented as a Council problem.
“That is wrong, it wouldn't wash with any other business, and the lack of action by hospital administration dealing with this matter to date is not in the spirit of partnership and cooperation that Council embarked on to facilitate the hospital redevelopment."
