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The Ministry of Health has bought all the land it needs to construct the main buildings that will make up the new Dunedin Hospital.
The estimated $1.4billion project’s budget of $75million to buy the parts of the inner city site not already owned by the Crown and demolish the buildings has been met.
A ministry spokeswoman yesterday confirmed the final two sites it needed had been bought, through an agreed sale under the Public Works Act.
Those sites are now occupied by VTNZ (155 Hanover St) and Wilson Parking (414 Cumberland St).
Three sites on the northern block of the hospital site, occupied by a University of Otago hostel, a tyre company and an Aurora electricity substation, remain unowned by the ministry.
Those sites were "not time-critical" for the project, and were earmarked for use for ancillary buildings or future expansion, Southern Partnership Group chairman Pete Hodgson said.
"This is another milestone achieved and I’m very pleased about it.
"It’s been a process that has taken a while, but has required good behaviour and careful conversations, and as people have understood what the needs of the new hospital project are, they have understood their role in helping facilitate that."
The new hospital will comprise two main buildings: a smaller outpatients building on the northern block, and the main hospital block to its south on the former Cadbury factory site.
The sites will be linked by a bridge over St Andrew St.
The outpatients building is scheduled to open in 2024, and the main block is planned to open in November 2028.
Part of the Cadbury site has already been demolished and work is under way on both blocks to strip out recyclable material and remove hazardous substances such as asbestos.
Negotiations had taken more time than expected, partly due to delays imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, but the outcome had been timely and as little disruptive as possible, Mr Hodgson said.
The ministry had not had to use the Public Works Act to compulsorily acquire any land for the hospital, Mr Hodgson said.
"There has been good communication, people have understood what our needs were and what their needs were, and that has been behind it all.
"It is pleasing that we have been able to progress it without having to use any sort of large legal stick."
The tyre company site and the university building would not interfere with the construction of the outpatient building, Mr Hodgson said.
The substation could pose problems depending on where underground cables were laid.
"My understanding is that preliminary work can begin with Aurora still in situ ... the substation itself is well north of the northernmost point of the building."
The next milestone for the hospital project to clear is for Cabinet to approve its detailed business case — the plan that sets out the future shape of the hospital buildings and what services will be provided within.
The recent outbreak of Covid-19 in the North Island has delayed that decision, but it is understood Cabinet is likely to examine the issue on Monday.