New hospital site obvious — for some

WHY, in your article on hospital site speculation did you not include the most obvious site — the 2ha block bounded by Frederick, Castle, Cumberland and Hanover Sts.

Forty percent of this site is already owned by the Southern District Health Board, and has on it a number of old, rundown, and possibly below standard earthquakeprone buildings, including the Physio Pool.

These buildings are essentially worthless.

The rest of the site (approx 1.3ha) is owned by the University of Otago, and also includes older buildings that might need a lot of work to bring them up modern building standards, especially since a couple of them are used for student accommodation.

All of these buildings are much older than the decrepit hospital building that is so urgently in need of replacement.

Surely a deal or land swap could be arranged with the university to obtain this land without too much trouble.

You should be investigating why the Southern District Health Board does not use land it already owns, and whether it is attempting to negotiate with the university for the rest of the block, rather than publishing speculation.

Evan Tosh

Dunedin [Editor responds: ‘‘No site has been publicly confirmed. The article in question simply outlined potential sites.’’]