The ground finally will be broken on Queanbeyan's first respite care facility in the next few months after more than five years of intense effort, negotiation, fund-raising and government lobbying.
The last piece of the puzzle finally slipped into place with Labor's win in the weekend NSW election, with the newly elected member for Monaro Steve Whan pledging to put $600,000 on the table to cover the funding shortfall and allow the project to push ahead.
No-one was more relieved than the chair of the Respite Care for Queanbeyan and Yvonne Cushieri House committee Paul Walshe, who has been tireless in his efforts to support the project
"I'm not one to play politics but having Steve [Whan] support the project and honour the pledge which Terry [Campese] made when he first began campaigning for Labor, then for Steve to get elected, finally has got this project over the line," Mr Walshe said.
"This has been a long hard slog but now the end is finally in sight.
"We have the development approval in place, the building designed, and the builders ready to go; all we need now is the construction certificate."
The facility will be built on Ross Rd, on the site of the old basketball courts, with the adjacent Ross Park to be landscaped and redeveloped into a shared public space.
The centre will be named Yvonne Cuschieri House. It was the late Ms Cuschieri's dream to set up a respite facility in 2013 when she was struggling to care for her adult son Steven, who had brain cancer.
Advised by her doctor that she needed a break to look after her own health, Yvonne had no option but to put their son into an aged nursing home for a short time. It was a heart-breaking decision and the catalyst for the campaign.
Both Yvonne and Steven passed away but the Queanbeyan community has rallied strongly behind the effort and pushed ahead, with Mr Walshe using his formidable negotiation skills after 37 years as a senior executive with Actew-AGL to raise $1.5 million in state and federal funding, together with further financial support from the John James Foundation.
All was proceeding well to have the project started until the COVID pandemic hit and building material prices quickly rose by between 30 to 40 per cent, putting the end goal out of reach again.
Monaro MP Steve Whan said he would be "moving to get that [pledged NSW] funding handed over as soon as possible".
"The capital funding is important but we do need to sit down and talk about what the ongoing operational funding model will be because there's not a lot that NSW can contribute there," he said.
"But I do want to be involved and working with that team of people on an ongoing basis. I will be looking to talk to [federal Labor Eden-Monaro member] Kristy McBain on what the sustainable model is for it going forward."
Queanbeyan local Trish Rankin was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 and now has three nodes of cancer in her brain. She is fighting it, undergoing multiple scans and regular treatment to keep it at bay. But as one who is directly affected, she knows the desperate need for a respite facility in her community.
"Queanbeyan needs this facility so badly; there are so many people right across this community that need this," she said.
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