New Hope For Wilson Memorial Hospital

A Murrurundi community group will resubmit an application for State Heritage listing for the 1919 Wilson Memorial Hospital in an attempt to save the building from demolition and the site turned into a car park and temporary nursing quarters.

Related Story: Wilson Memorial Hospital to be Demolished

The request for resubmission was approved by the Upper Hunter Shire Heritage Advisory Committee at a meeting last Monday and follows consultations with New South Wales Architects,

Ray Hynes, Murrurundi community group leader, said the resubmission will focus on a mistake made by Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD). 

“The UHSC voted to put that section up for State Heritage significance and Hunter New England Health wrote a letter condemning it,” Mr Hynes said.

“It has leaks and asbestos issues in the extensions, not in the core building; so when they wrote that, it was all affected. They tarred the whole hospital with the same brush,” he said.

“Because they’re the owners of that [hospital], it went with the submission to state listing and they claim they had no integrity of the original building,” he said.

“We’re hopefully going to dissect the Hunter New England Health’s letter of disapproval … where they combined the issues of the extensions over the whole lot,” said Mr Hynes.

Mr Hynes met with the HNELHD project management team a year ago and told them the history of the block and the hospital.

“They admitted to me then [that] when they did their original heritage impact statement, it was inadequate and insufficient,” Mr Hynes said.

“Their heritage advisor really downgraded the significance of that building. They just made a comment like ‘it’s not on the Local Environmental Plan (LEP) so it’s not significant,'” he said.

“It’s now registered with the National Trust; they saw it was so significant they registered it,” he said.

“I’ve been in touch with the current New South Wales Government Architects Department and they’re very keen to support its retention,” said Mr Hynes.

Hospital’s history

The hospital is currently sitting on an original land grant owned by Peter Haydon in 1840, who sold the block of land to William Arlington Wilson.

The Wilson family also own the Rosedale estate, including the oldest residence in Murrurundi: the 1845 Rosedale Cottage.

When William Arlington died in 1913, five acres of land was donated to the community to build the hospital, which was partially government funded and partially community funded.

Since then, sections were added behind and beside the original 1919 complex.

Renowned Government architect George McRae designed the Wilson Memorial Hospital.

He also designed the Sydney Town Hall, Queen Victoria Building and the lower entrance to Taronga Zoo.

“A significant government architect; we’ve got one of only two buildings that he did outside Sydney – that’s the significance of this building,” Mr Hynes said.

“This was built during the first world war. Now that’s pretty unusual – to have a major civic construction while all the men were away,” he said.

“It has a remaining Nightingale ward. We’re one of a handful of hospitals who still have one,” he said

Community consultation

Mr Hynes said the Murrurundi community was not adequately informed about what would happen to the 1919 building and had since met with government and project officials to express their concerns over the building’s fate.

“They didn’t do any community consultation on the future of our old hospital. They just said, ‘do you want a new one or do the old one up?'” Mr Hynes said.

“We’ve been down to Maitland at the brand new hospital; we’ve met with the assets manager of the state; we’ve met with the health manager – to no avail,” he said.

“We have corresponded with the Health Minister, Mr [Brad] Hazzard, we’ve corresponded with member of parliament Michael Johnsen and we have corresponded with management of Hunter New England Health..

“We just think we’re going to wake up one day and it’s going to be bulldozed,” said Mr Hynes.

Mr Hynes said the group would be perfectly fine with the demolition of all extensions, as long as the 1919 section was preserved.

“Just keep the old part,” he said.

“The arts council are interested in taking it over as their headquarters,” he said.

“Hunter New England Health need to carry the responsibility for the insufficient assessment done originally because that allowed them, in their minds, to demolish the building.

“I don’t want to pay the penalty for their mistake,” Mr Hynes said.

The Murrurundi community group have circulated an information flyer around town, asking residents to support their efforts, by emailing murrurundiheritage@gmail.com or upperhunter@parliament.nsw.gov.au.