MOUNT Gambier City Council will not contribute to Peter’s Project, despite campaigners arguing that South Australians will become regular users of the radiotherapy centre once it is built.
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Peter’s Project delegates, including director Vicki Jellie, have made five trips to the city — the second largest in South Australia — to press for contributions towards the south-west radiotherapy centre.
In a letter to Peter’s Project this week, Mount Gambier City Council chief executive Mark McShane said it would not fund the campaign, instead focusing on improving local health services, securing an MRI machine and more specialists.
Peter’s Project has been seeking support from south-east South Australian councils because of the high number of South Australians who already cross the border for health services.
Cancer patients in Mount Gambier either have to fly or drive to Adelaide for radiotherapy treatment, a journey that will be slashed in half once the Warrnambool centre is established.
But residents in the Limestone Coast city are firmly focused on a separate campaign for MRI imaging.
“We understand that they’re supporting other things but it is disappointing for cancer patients in Mount Gambier that the council hasn’t acknowledged that they will come here,” Ms Jellie said.
But she said the Rotary Club of Mount Gambier West, Keatley Real Estate and the Scott Group had contributed.
Moyne, Corangamite, Glenelg, Southern Grampians shires and Warrnambool City Council, have contributed a total of $760,000.
