Working on parking solution
THE Great King St car park in central Dunedin could be opened up for afterhours parking for Dunedin Hospital staff.
Southern District Health Board New Dunedin Hospital project team programme director Hamish Brown said the SDHB had been approached by the Dunedin City Council about the idea.
The DCC asked if there was interest in a pilot scheme regarding use of the car park for after hours and night staff workers, he said.
‘‘We have indicated Southern DHB would be interested in this and are awaiting next steps from the DCC,’’ Mr Brown said.
An SDHB spokeswoman said there had been work with the city council towards the pilot scheme for secure nighttime parking for hospital shift workers before lockdown. It was expected to pick up again after the South returned to Alert Level 2, she said.
The health board was working through the detail of the New Dunedin Hospital site master plan and as part of that, the team would look at the longer term requirements, including parking, of the SDHB sites and the wider health precinct, she said.
A DCC spokesman said the two organisations were working together on parking.
‘‘DCC staff meet regularly with members of the New Dunedin Hospital project team, which includes representatives from the Southern District Health Board, to discuss the project, including its impact on the city’s transport network,’’ the spokesman said.
‘‘We also worked with the SDHB as it developed a new staff travel plan . . . You will need to contact the health board for details of their plans.’’
Dunedin city councillor Andrew Whiley was critical last month of the SDHB for not using the former Wilson car park site for temporary parking for hospital staff.
Yesterday, he said he was aware of the proposal for the Great King St car park at the time.
But information he had seen indicated the proposal would not help staff who arrived for shifts when the car park opened to the public in the morning, he said.
‘‘When you hear of staff turning up an hour before their shift trying to find a car park, essentially making sure they can have a car park that is easily walkable to the hospital, you sort of go ‘Wow, this is a bigger issue than even I understood it to be’.’’