New North Rothbury ambulance station moves a step closer

newy.com.au – A new ambulance station for North Rothbury moved a step closer on Tuesday 2 December 2025, after the NSW Government finalised the purchase of a site on Winepress Road in Branxton.

The North Rothbury Ambulance Station is one of five new purpose-built stations planned for the Hunter under the $615.5 million NSW Ambulance Infrastructure Program, which aims to improve response times and give paramedics modern facilities as demand for emergency care grows across the region and the state.

Health Infrastructure and NSW Ambulance selected the Winepress Road site after a detailed evaluation, with planners highlighting its access to the Hunter Expressway and its position within the broader Hunter ambulance network. NSW Ambulance used “best practice modelling software” to map Triple Zero (000) calls and identified North Rothbury as a high-priority location to serve North Rothbury, Branxton and surrounding communities.

Minister for Health Ryan Park said the land purchase brought long-promised infrastructure closer to reality for local residents. “Today’s announcement means the communities of North Rothbury and Branxton are one step closer to receiving the essential infrastructure they need,” he said. “The North Rothbury Ambulance Station will support local paramedics to provide the best emergency and mobile medical care well into the future.”

Park said the project was a “significant milestone” for the Hunter Valley and framed the new station as part of a broader shift in emergency care. “More ambulance stations, more paramedics, faster response times, and better patient outcomes. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

The station will be a contemporary base for paramedics, with plans including internal parking for emergency vehicles, a dedicated vehicle wash bay, administration areas, multipurpose and logistics spaces and staff amenities. Detailed design work and planning approvals are the next steps, with construction and opening dates to be confirmed as the project advances.

Minister for the Hunter Yasmin Catley said the new station was about keeping up with population growth across the Branxton, Huntlee and North Rothbury corridor. “As more people call the Hunter home, the Minns Labor Government is working hard to ensure our essential services keep up,” she said. Catley said bringing emergency care into “the heart of the community” would strengthen resilience in natural disasters, support local jobs and provide new training opportunities for future paramedics.

Catley also argued the project marked a break with previous approaches. “After decades of the Opposition overlooking the Hunter and failing to deliver the infrastructure needed to make our suburbs liveable, communities here paid the price but we’re turning that around,” she said.

Cessnock MP Clayton Barr said the North Rothbury station would sit alongside new facilities at Gateshead, Caves Beach, Edgeworth and East Maitland to form a stronger Hunter ambulance network. “Paramedics across the Hunter will have five new purpose-built ambulance stations to support them as they deliver care to the community when and where it’s needed,” he said, adding the North Rothbury base would support existing stations at Kurri Kurri, Cessnock, Singleton and Rutherford.

Plans for a station serving the Branxton, Greta, Huntlee and North Rothbury communities have been progressing for several years. In mid-2023 Barr reported meeting senior NSW Ambulance staff about a proposed Branxton station and noted public calls for landowners to lodge expressions of interest in hosting the site, describing it as “an exciting and positive new service” for the growing corridor. By mid-2025 he told constituents that a site had been secured for what he then referred to as the Branxton Ambulance Station in the Huntlee area, with designs and timelines under development.

The North Rothbury announcement comes as the government rolls out its NSW Ambulance Infrastructure Program, which will deliver 30 new ambulance stations and supporting infrastructure across Sydney, the Central Coast, Newcastle, the Hunter and Illawarra. New stations are planned or in development at locations including North Sydney, South Windsor, Oran Park, Berowra, Prestons, Moss Vale, Bargo, Lisarow, Glendenning, Caves Beach, Carlingford, Macquarie Park, Unanderra and Warilla.

The bricks-and-mortar program is being paired with a recruitment drive for 2,500 additional NSW Ambulance staff, including 500 paramedics for rural and regional areas, delivered through the Strategic Workforce and Infrastructure Team (SWIFT) program. The Minns Government says this is part of its effort to “undo over a decade of Liberal cuts to health workers and health infrastructure delays”.

Design development and statutory planning for the North Rothbury station will now get under way, with the government promising to keep the community informed as the project moves towards construction and opening.