FIVE months after it was due to be completed and 18 months since the first sod was turned, the Gillian Health Centre at Moss Vale is still just a vacant block of land.
St Henri Group managing director Sam Ibrahim, the developer behind the $20 million project, said it was “recession proof” in April last year and told the News last month construction would now be started early next year.
He said “lots of little things” had delayed the project that would create 300 construction jobs, many of which would be sourced locally, Mr Ibrahim told the News at the centre’s launch last year.
The outcome of the Gateway development at the old Holden site next door, which Mr Ibrahim had an option on, had also put things on hold and was potentially a “conflicting development”.
Demolition on the site had been completed and Mr Ibrahim said he was waiting on a construction certificate.
The super clinic plan included 13 different services ranging from a 24-hour medical centre to physiotherapy and cosmetic surgery.
Mr Ibrahim lashed out at Wingecarribee Council’s planning department over a failed retail shopping centre at the Mazda car yard in Mittagong.
He said the council had “mucked him around” and the project was no longer commercially viable.
He said developers could be 100 per cent compliant with the council’s stipulations and still have projects turned down.
Mr Ibrahim also denied Theo Onisforou’s Intersection project in Station Street, Bowral, which could have a medical centre, would clash with the Gillian Centre.
He said the clinics would “complement each other” and the specialists at his centre would benefit from Mr Onisforou’s GP clinic.
“Bring it on,” he said.
Socrates says: Again, sometimes the things that go on behind the scenes are as cut throat in the Wingecarribee as they are in the big end of town when competitors make life difficult for those who oppose their respective developments. Was the Southern Highlands Division of General Practice a bit more than a little miffed by the success of Mr Ibrahim and the St Henri Group in securing their site in Moss Vale while the Division did not?
