The city is clean, the tree-lined streets are a delight, the gardens are picturesque. Orange is a good place to be in spring.

Some parts of the city are out of alignment with the general appearance of the town. One site that looks derelict, slum-like and unattended is the old hospital.  The buildings have been left to be vandalised and deteriorate over time.

The status of the lawns is a disgrace. In previous years the grounds were maintained occasionally.  The current situation is one of neglect with grass 60-90 centimetres tall. There has been no maintenance this spring.

Now that Orange ratepayers own the building and grounds since Orange City Council purchased the site, we all have ownership of the current state of the site.  It appears that the previous owners - Health Infrastructure NSW - had a better acceptance of duty of care responsibilities than OCC. Why is this?

The future of the site has been stated as a multi purpose residential precinct. Is it true that this is a 10-year project? If so what is the council’s intention regarding existing building and ground maintenance?

It would an appropriate action by council to outline the management plan for the site showing the responsibilities for site maintenance. 

Details of the development timelines would help ratepayers assess what we are funding and what the total investment will be.  

A cash-flow budget of development costs and eventual revenue would show where site maintenance fits into the expense estimates.

Is council capable of managing a project of this size?  The way by which existing grounds are maintained makes one wonder.

A comprehensive management plan would help answer this question.

Ed Henry, Orange