Media Statement - Roth’s Corner Medical Centre - EOI

Published on 04 October 2019

Snowy Valleys Council understands community concern that Tumbarumba may be left without a Doctor if the Roth’s Corner building changes hands and makes the following statements regarding the EOI..

• It is Council’s intention do everything it can to ensure that Tumbarumba retains the medical services the community needs.
• The objective of the Expression of Interest (EOI) process is to continue the operation of Roth’s Corner as a medical centre. 
• Council is committed to doing all it can to secure and maintain medical services in Tumbarumba and across the region.
• While this is not entirely in the Council’s control, staff and Councillors have been, and continue to work closely with the local and regional health services to develop solutions to the strategic challenge of attracting and retaining doctors into our communities. 

The current lease for Roth’s Corner expires in December 2019 and the objective of the EOI process is to secure continuity of the services of a medical practitioner at Roth’s Corner Medical Centre. 

• The EOI process was originally intended to seek a lessee only; however
• Council received an informal enquiry from a doctor who expressed interest in purchasing the building; therefore
• Considerations of interest to purchase the building, for the purposes of a medical centre were transparently included in the EOI.
• Council has an obligation under the local government act to be transparent in its procurement, and so could not ignore the potential purchase of Roth’s Corner by a Doctor as an option.
• Council was not made aware of any community interest in taking on the premises at the time of issuing the EOI.

Members of the community have inferred that Council is keeping this process secret however the processes of Local Government requires a public process to dispose of land, including leases.

• In seeking interest from the market, Council is requesting confidential commercial information from interested parties.
• Information that Council gathers from any interested parties will need to remain confidential (not secret); including the identity of these parties.  

The EOI process concludes on 10 October 2019; unless a request for an extension is made.

• Council will accept all reasonable requests for extensions noting that the current lease ends in December 2019. 
• If there is high interest in leasing the asset then consideration of the EOIs will proceed on that basis. 
• On completion of the assessment process, Council will inform the community of the nature of the interest (number of lease/purchase EOIs received) and outline a way forward.

-ENDS-