A NSW Government minister has intervened to order mediation in a bid to resolve a spat between a regional health district and a community group.
The volunteer-run O'Brien Centre has operated as a facility for people with mental illness to socialise in a building adjacent to the Orange Base Hospital for 23 years.
But the O'Brien Centre board said that is now at risk because negotiations for a new, long-lasting lease of the site with the Western NSW Local Health District (LHD) have broken down.
O'Brien Centre director James Pegum said they want a 10 to 20-year agreement with an option to buy if the LHD ever decided to sell in the future.
Instead, the LHD has offered a five-year lease with an optional five year extension and the inclusion of an 18-month eviction notice period.
"It's never been put to us, we've never received anything in writing," Mr Pegum said.
He said the break clause meant the centre could not operate with any certainty and could not invest in much-needed safety upgrades or site improvements for fear of being evicted soon after.
Ministerial intervention
In a statement, a spokesperson for the LHD said the O'Brien Centre had been made a range of offers to establish an agreement, including refurbishing a different building, but all had been "declined".
But Mr Pegum said that was a "falsehood" because the site in question had been examined and found to be unsuitable.
"We've lost so many volunteers because they're stressed," he said.
"I have grave concerns that we actually have the volunteer base to undertake a move."
In a statement, the Minister for Mental Health, Regional Health and Women, Bronnie Taylor, told the ABC "the O'Brien Centre is valued" and wanted it to remain part of the Orange community.
Ms Taylor directed the LHD to "convene a mediation roundtable" to "resolve this issue on terms that are favourable to both parties".
"I am confident that the LHD and the centre can work constructively to reach an appropriate outcome," she said.
Mr Pegum described the intervention as "wonderful" but said the meeting needed to happen urgently.
He said the group would engage in "good faith" but needed the LHD to make the same commitments.
The LHD spokesperson said it remained "open to further discussions".
