Gundagai GP, Paul Mara, says the old Gundagai Hospital should be returned to the community which built it.

A residents group had been negotiating with Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) last year to buy the building for an aged care facility but it was sold for $110,000 to a private developer, much less than was advertised.

Dr Mara says the sale process was inappropriate and the loss of the locally funded building is appalling.

“I walked up there the other day and had a look around,” he said.

“It’s becoming grotty inside, it’s becoming grotty outside, there’s a real risk of vermin, I mean something has to happen to that place.

“The community in the past invested a lot of time and money and effort into looking after that hospital and getting it built initially.

“I believe it really should be taken over as a community asset.”

Labor MLC, Mick Veitch, failed to secure the papers associated with the old hospital sale in a parliamentary motion last October and is now making Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

“I really want to find out what happened with the sale,” he said.

“It could be that the local health district followed due process in which case there’s no reason for information to be held back I guess.

“I just want to get to the bottom of how the process was conducted so that I can assure those people from Gundagai that have made contact with me that the process was above board.

“The view of a lot of people is that that facility should remain a community owned facility or at least in community hands.

“Now that’s a view that’s been put to me by a number of people and I guess that’s why I’m trying to get to the bottom of just what happened with the disposal, with the sale of the site, and just to make sure that on behalf of the people of Gundagai that due process was followed.”

Dr Mara says the owner of the old Gundagai Hospital needs to reveal his plans for the facility.

“Clearly it was bought on spec,” he said.

“If the person thinks he’s going make any dough out of this, with all the asbestos and the other problems associated with it… there’s a lot of work that has to go into it to make it anywhere near a commercial proposition.

“I think he needs to come up and say what he wants to do with it and show that it does benefit the community.”

Dr Mara says he does not understand the sale process but people still have many questions.

“What people forget is that the community invested in the hospital over many, many years,” he said.

“I mean the community originally built the hospital.

“I mean there’s been a lot of emotional and financial investment in that and for it to be just given away in that way I think is an appalling indictment.”

Mr Veitch says it is taking a long time to secure the papers related to the old hospital sale.

“There’s been a bit of tick tacking with the Murrumbidgee Local Health District and myself about the scope of my GIPA (Government Information Public Access) request and I’m still waiting for the documentation to be presented.

“I think to be fair to the Local Health District, they may well be talking to third parties about getting permission to release the information to me as a part of my application, but in my mind, it shouldn’t take this long to obtain the information.”