Gawler paramedics Ilia Martini, Kayla Wilton, Jenny-Lee Whittenbury and Member for Light Tony Piccolo at the site of Gawler’s new ambulance station.
PHOTO: Brendan Simpkins
Story by: Brendan Simpkins and producted by The Bunyip Gawler
A VACANT plot of land in Willaston will be transformed into a new state-of-the-art home for Gawler’s ambulance crews, The Bunyip can reveal.
The State Government has finalised the compulsory acquisition of a 4500m2 site on Main North Rd, with construction due to be completed by late 2025.
It will house Gawler’s two 12-paramedic ambulance crews, as well as a six-person Regional Medical Transfer Service which will come online by the end of the year.
The new facility will replace the current station, located at the southern end of Murray St, which was built in 1979 on a former Gawler Council depot.
Located just north of the Hewett Shopping Centre, the new station will be conveniently placed to service greater Gawler and the Roseworthy growth area, as well as having easy access to the Northern Expressway and Sturt Highway.
Today’s announcement fulfils part of an election commitment from the Labor Party, which pledged to invest heavily in South Australia’s health and emergency service sectors.
Health Minister Chris Picton said the Gawler community had been “long-calling” for more paramedics and better infrastructure to service the town.
“We are giving our Gawler ambos a brandnew fit-for-purpose ambulance station, with room to grow in the future along with the local population,” he said.
“Our commitments will help ensure that when Gawler residents call for help in an emergency, they will get that assistance quickly.
It will also deliver support to the existing Gawler ambos, and surrounding stations.”
The State Government pledged $67.2 million over four years in last year’s budget to rebuild four ambulance stations across SA, including Gawler.
New stations would also be built at four locations across the metropolitan area, as well as a brand new city headquarters.
Gawler was one of the last stations to secure land. South Australian Ambulance Service chief executive Rob Elliott said that finding the ideal spot for the station had been no easy feat.
“But with the help of our infrastructure teams and support from across other government departments, we have been able to deliver this exciting news for Gawler,” he said.
“The Gawler region’s population is growing, and this investment will allow us to respond more quickly to the region's growing urgent medical needs.
“By moving our Gawler crews to Main North Rd, they will have more direct access to major roads and highways, which our modelling anticipates will have a positive impact on emergency coverage in the north and surrounding regional communities.”
Member for Light Tony Piccolo heralded the central location as being key to help improve response times in the area.
Gawler was previously serviced by only one ambulance crew, resulting in some of the worst response times in the state.
The additional crew has responded to more than 1370 incidents since it came online in December.
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