St John finds preferred site for new home
ST John Ambulance’s Oamaru base in Coquet St is ‘‘not fit for its present purpose’’ and other options are being considered, the organisation’s Oamaru area chairman says.
St John has occupied the building, a former doctor’s surgery, since 1966.
Over the past four and ahalf years, discussions have been held with the Waitaki District Council in an effort to identify any potential pieces of land that may be suitable for St John’s specific needs.
Discussions had also been held with Oamaru property developers and real estate agencies about potential locations.
While several possibilities had been identified, one stood out from the rest.
St John Oamaru area chairman Terry Kent said the preferred option was a section of Awamoa Park beside State Highway 1.
‘‘The ambulance service requires quite a specific thing. People ask ‘how much space do you need?’ and the answer from our architect is . . . ‘there’s no answer to how much space you need’.
‘‘We’ve talked about other parks, we’ve talked about other spaces, we’ve talked with developers and we’ve talked to people who own properties. We haven’t decided on or applied for a specific site.’’
Awamoa Park offered fast, easy access to SH1, which Mr Kent said was the ‘‘main access route’’ for the bulk of St John’s work in Oamaru and its outlying areas.
It was also elevated, which would be an advantage in severe flooding events.
‘‘We’ve worked our way through many, many options and this is our preferred site. The number of sites that are downtown and sit on State Highway 1 are very few.’’
The present building, where 6.5 paid staff were based, was no longer suitable, because of its design, Mr Kent said.
‘‘We run 24/7, around the clock. They have to be on site. It was never built for onsite overnight. There’s no rest area . . . we’ve long since established the building’s not fit for its present purpose.’’
There was no timeframe as to when a decision would be made on St John’s future home.
A ‘‘planning and design phase’’ was under way, which had yet to be finalised and approved by St John.
Mr Kent said fundraising was well advanced and was likely to gain traction once more information was able to be made public.