The agreement will require James Richmark Pty Ltd to spend more than $2.3 million for traffic lights along Forest Road and the upgrade of the road network from Orange to the development and more than $4.7 million for sewer and water infrastructure. 

The council will carry out the work and forego $1.5 million in developer contributions due to the expectation of 400 jobs to be created. 

Amended plans were submitted to the NSW Department of Planning in May, however the department required the agreement to be in place to make a final decision.

James Richmark consultant Patrick O’Halloran hoped to have a decision in the next fortnight and said the six-storey tower, set to contain 104 hospital and allied health beds, would be built first.

“It’s the crown jewel of the site and everything flows on the back of that,” he said.

“If we go with aged care at the back, they would want the tower up.”

The private hospital precinct will include the tower, an 82-room medi-motel and buildings for health and retail facilities, taking $50 million and two years to build. 

Future stages will include residential homes and possibly apartments providing short and medium-term accommodation for hospital staff and students, and community and childcare facilities.

The hospital operator and retail tenancies are still yet to be confirmed, however Mr O’Halloran said the developer was in talks with several operators and anticipated a decision would be made by December.

“We’re confident in starting in February or March and we wouldn’t be without an operator,” he said.

Mr O’Halloran said work had begun to attract retail to the site, which would be managed by Benchmark Commercial. 

He said the agreement had changed slightly as the project was redesigned, but the main objectives remained the same.

“When you think about what’s happening in Shiralee, we expect it to really take off,” he said. 

“To add a bit of mass around the base hospital will really add to the hospital and encourage Shiralee to start its own development.”

The agreement will be placed on public exhibition.