Chopper Crew Da Lodged

Chopper Crew Da Lodged

Illawarra Mercury

Wednesday January 30, 2008

By COURTNEY TRENWITH

A DISPUTE over staff accommodation for the region's new 24-hour helicopter rescue service has taken a positive step towards resolution.

Operator Canadian Helicopter Company has lodged a development application with Shellharbour City Council to build interim accommodation at the service's base at the Illawarra Regional Airport in Albion Park.

A council spokeswoman said a DA was received on Friday, seeking a temporary administration, operations and emergency rest facility for the helicopter rescue service.

Further details have not been released as staff have not had time to review the application, which will eventually go on public display.

Meanwhile, the NSW Ambulance Service and the Health Services Union representing helicopter paramedics returned to the Industrial Relations Commission yesterday.

The parties have been at loggerheads over interim accommodation for after-hours staff, who are being housed at Dapto Ambulance Station while a new base for the 24-hour service is built.

The union's Illawarra representative, Ian Hanna, said the parties were working through several issues.

He was pleased the ambulance service had overcome a delay in the delivery of vital equipment for sea rescues by hiring the necessary items.

The service's 10-hour-a-day rescue operation was extended to 24 hours two weeks ago. This had been delayed due to the accommodation dispute, as paramedics argued response times would be increased unless they were housed on site at the airport.