"I saw his spray and I thought, no bugger you!" was Shoalhaven City Councillor Nina Digiglio's response to a scathing attack in State Parliament by Kiama MP Gareth Ward.
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Shoalhaven Mayor Amanda Findley and Cr Digiglio have questioned if rather than upgrading the current Shoalhaven Hospital, slated for a $434 million upgrade and expansion onto Nowra Park, that perhaps a new greenfield site, closer to the city's major population base might be a better alternative.
A site between South Nowra and the Bay and Basin has been suggested.
Mr Ward lambasted members of the Greens party on Shoalhaven City Council in parliament on Tuesday (September 22) saying "neither the Greens' political party mayor nor any Greens' political party councillor had contacted NSW Health, the health minister, me or the Member for South Coast to seek information or advice on the viability of a greenfield site."
He said there had been "no requests for meetings, no letters, no phone calls or text messages before the proposal was put forward to dump millions of dollars in investment and delay the upgrade".
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"The Greens' political party councillors have undertaken no assessment of possible sites and given the size of land required for a potential new development the only possible options for a hospital site would likely be those in a flood or fire zone," he said.
Cr Digiglio, who is also a local health worker, said she wasn't going to stand for the MP's tirade, and would continue her fight.
"I saw his spray and I thought, 'No bugger you!'" she said.
I saw his spray and I thought - No bugger you! Gareth has not worked day in his life in the health system.
- Shoalhaven Councillor Nina Digiglio
"Gareth has not worked day in his life in the health system.
"He doesn't know what goes on on the ground - what pressures nurses and doctors face due to lack of resources, yet he's there making decisions for the future.
"This is not a 'Greens' issue'.
"This is about having an outcome for the community which will serve us into the 21st century and beyond.
"For post-COVID recovery we need big infrastructure projects like this - it would provide a positive way out of it - creating employment opportunities and stimulating our economy.'"
Cr Digiglio said raising the issue was not about "political point scoring".
"I'm fighting for the people - it's not about me and political point scoring," she said.
"It's about all the people who are coming to me with concerns.
"We will continue to fight.
"This is about the future, what our grandchildren will have."
In his speech Mr Ward questioned why the Greens had not raised the issue when he and Shelley Hancock campaigned for the new multi-storey car park at the hospital.
"The Greens political party councillors were well aware that the multi-storey car park investment was about meeting the future needs of the current hospital campus," he said.
"If you had a concern about the current site would you not raise it then?
"Hospitals need to be close to the centre of populations and any attempt to move the hospital south of Nowra would move it further away from residents in Nowra and the northern Shoalhaven, particularly in emergency circumstances when minutes can be the difference between life and death."
Proximity to the centre of the Shoalhaven population is at least something the warring parties agree is important.
Both Crs Findley and Digiglio suggest one reason for a new greenfield site would be to move the hospital closer to the city's larger population located in central Shoalhaven.