Callan Park Land Grab – or is it?

I’m the type of person that cheers for the under dog and with recent local headlines by the Glebe (newspaper) screaming ‘Callan Park Land Grab’ and ‘Leichhardt Council’ in the same breath, claiming that the State Government has broken their ‘promise’ to ’sign over’ all of the 41 hectares of Callan Park in Rozelle to the Council, the impression I came away with was – that the Council was the under dog.The reality of the situation is…

that the Council has not signed a lease and has been given until July 2010 to do so. Council is upset because, without a lease in place they have no control over the Park and therefore cannot raise the revenue they need to support their Master Plan as they intend to raise a portion of the five million dollar per annum bill for Callan Park by leasing (at commercial rates) the buildings that the Ambulance Service of New South Wales requires.

This brings me to the real ‘under dog’, the NSW Ambulance Service. The Department of Heath is (still) the rightful owner of many buildings in Callan Park, and had indicated to the Council when the lease deal for Callan Park was announced by the Government, that the NSW Ambulance Service was scheduled for a much needed expansion of its services to the community and therefore would require additional buildings adjacent to its existing services in Callan Park.

Callan Park is the state headquarters for the NSW Ambulance Services and has just opened its Research Centre to provide our community with life saving data that will improve not only response times, but also the quality of care for accident victims or those suffering a heart attack… a much  needed service to save their lives.

If Leichhardt Councils only gripe is that they cannot now charge commercial rates for the property so desperately needed by our state Ambulance Service, the same service that helps thousands of people each year, then shame on them, they should have negotiated an agreement with the Dept of Health last year when the Department approached them.

Just one last word…If I have to choose between life saving emergency services supported by scores of dedicated, well trained staff and volunteers and Leichhardt Council becoming landlords charging exorbitant rates, I’m for the emergency services getting as much land (and buildings) as they need to continue providing essential services to our community.