Manning Hospital Redevelopment stage 2: social impact assessment report

State Significant projects can affect people in many ways, both positively and negatively. Identifying and understanding social impacts helps to inform responses that aim to avoid, mitigate or reduce negative impacts and enhance positive impacts. ‘Social impacts’ generally refer to the consequences that people experience when a new project brings change. For the purposes of SIA, ‘people’ are classed as individuals, households, groups, communities or organisations. The SIA aims to identify, predict and evaluate likely social impacts arising from a project and propose responses to the predicted impacts. This Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has been prepared to accompany the Environmental Impact Statement for a State Significant Development Application to the NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment (DPIE) for the second stage of the redevelopment of Manning Base Hospital at 26 York Street, Taree that includes: A new ‘clinical spine’ through the site to improve flow and connectivity of services; Upgraded inpatient beds to support contemporary models of care; Relocation and expansion of clinical support services, including pharmacy and pathology; Improved drop-off and front of house areas to provide a clear entry to the hospital; An integrated back of house and upgrade of essential hospital infrastructure. This SIA has been conducted in line with the methodology and requirements for an SIA outlined in DPIE’s Social Impact Assessment Guideline for State Significant Projects November 2021. (SIA Guidelines). This SIA has been prepared by Professor Roberta Ryan of the Institute for Regional Futures, University of Newcastle. Professor Ryan is appropriately qualified and experienced to prepare the SIA, and a signed declaration is included in Section 2.3 of this report. Research support for this SIA has been undertaken by Olivia Wyborn of the Institute for Regional Futures, under the guidance of Professor Ryan. Document preparation. This document was prepared on Awabakal and Worimi Land by the Institute of Regional Futures for Health Infrastructure, August 2022.