A MEDICAL centre has been proposed for a piece of land between the City View Hotel and the West Ipswich Bunnings.
The applicant UK Qld Pty Ltd submitted a development application for a Material Change of Use for a Business Use (Medical Centre) for the land on 279 Brisbane Street.
The application comes less than two months after the Federal Government announced there would be a Senate inquiry into the acute GP shortage across outer metropolitan Australia, including Ipswich.
Ipswich GP and practice owner, Dr Cathryn Hester, told the Ipswich Tribune the Ipswich Hospital’s emergency room was often at capacity, a problem that could be alleviated with more GPs in the region.
“It’s well accepted that the more GP services you have available to the community, the healthier the community is and the less demand flows onto secondary and tertiary services like the hospital,” she said.
If given the green light, the development proposed for 279 Brisbane Street, would involve the demolition of the commercial building currently located on site in order to construct the single-storey medical centre with a total gross floor area of 215sqm.
The centre would include a reception area, consulting rooms, treatment area, a pathology room, skin treatment room, staff room, storage areas and amenities.
The proposal outlined the centre would have a Brisbane Street frontage with 15 car parks as well as spots for service and emergency vehicles.
The intednded hours of operation would be between 7.00am and 7.00pm, Monday to Sunday.
The application outlined the development would contribute to the ‘functionality and economic performance’ of Ipswich’s city centre.
“The proposed development provides a medical centre which provides employment opportunities, services the surrounding community and assists in providing a high quality continuum of health care,” it noted.
“The operation of the site will complement the Ipswich CBD, noting the site is in close proximity to a number of uses with extended operating hours.”
