The first sod was turned this morning for the new Norwood Ambulance Station, being built on the corner of Portrush and Magill roads.
Full construction will soon be underway, with a concrete pour scheduled for early November.
It’s the first of 10 new stations being built under Labor, in addition to upgrades of a further 10 stations.
The Malinauskas Labor Government has invested $187.2 million in a huge infrastructure boost to deliver brand new and completely rebuilt ambulance stations to support our hard-working ambos to care for South Australians.
This includes:
- Five new state-of-the-art stations for Norwood, Edwardstown, Woodville, Golden Grove and Adelaide, which will also include a new SA Ambulance Service headquarters
- Complete rebuilds of four stations at Mount Barker, Gawler, Victor Harbor and Campbelltown
- Upgrades at another 10 stations
Labor has also invested a further $3.8 million in order to deliver a brand-new ambulance station for Port Augusta – nearly double what the previous Liberal government was investing – with construction well underway.
The new Norwood station will house 28 extra ambos deployed to the eastern suburbs last year under the Government’s commitment to recruit 350 more ambos across the state.
Since hitting the road, these Norwood crews have filled a high-priority gap, responding to thousands of South Australians in need. The additional resources have played a critical role in significantly improving response times for life-threatening emergencies.
With a budget of $8.5 million, the new station is being built by Mossop Construction and is expected to be complete and operational by mid next year.
An estimated 30 workers a day will be onsite during construction.
It will include a garage to accommodate 5 ambulances and 2 light fleet plus a carport for a further 8 light fleet.
The fit-for-purpose station will also provide training spaces and leadership offices along with capacity for future growth. The training spaces will be a hub for metro-east paramedics, supporting their ongoing skills and development.
Each station will be equipped with solar panels and the external features and façade will incorporate materials to complement the surrounding area. Station landscaping will also be designed to complement the surrounding area.
Following the completion of Norwood, sights will be set on neighbouring ambulance station, Campbelltown.
At last year’s election, the Government committed to rebuilding Campbelltown’s ageing Montacute Road site, either on existing land or another location in the area.
The Government has today confirmed the delivery of a much larger, fit-for-purpose ambulance station on the existing site, which boasts important access to major arterial roads. The rebuild will commence in late 2024 and will feature a unique two-level design, with room to accommodate St John Ambulance training facilities.
Artist impressions of both the Norwood and Campbelltown stations can be found here.
As put by Chris Picton
It’s an exciting day for the community as we break ground on Norwood’s first-ever, purpose-built ambulance station.
This is a significant first step in our major ambulance infrastructure build of 10 new stations plus upgrades to a further 10.
We moved quickly on our pledge to hire more ambos to improve response times for South Australians in need. We’re also moving fast to build the critical infrastructure that these crews need to deliver that high-quality emergency care.
The Government has so far delivered 149 of our promised 350 additional ambos, boosting emergency coverage across the state. This has helped us deliver much better ambulance response times to get to South Australians in need.
As put by SAAS Chief Executive Officer, Rob Elliott
This has been a priority project for our operational support teams and to see site works commencing is a huge achievement.
This an important investment in ambulance infrastructure for the eastern suburbs that will support our growing workforce and improving response times.
