A government website for the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital (WCH) project currently states that construction is “scheduled to commence in late 2022” ahead of the hospital’s anticipated opening in 2027.

The construction start date was first announced by the former Marshall Government in February following the appointment of Lendlease as the project’s managing contractor.

Health Minister Chris Picton told InDaily that the timeframe was based off a “flawed” plan.

“Upon coming to Government, it is clear this project was already suffering from blowouts to cost and construction timeframes under the Liberals,” he said.

“The Liberals suggestion that construction could start this year was a fantasy and based off a plan that was clearly flawed after four years of delays and missed opportunities.”

But the Opposition has accused Labor of “intentionally delaying another critical state infrastructure project that was stacked up ready to go”.

Picton said the contract with Lendlease remained intact, with the company working on the project planning.

A spokesperson from Lendlease said it was “continuing to work with the state and the design team to progress the development of the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital”.

The former Marshall Government announced it would build the hospital at the railyards site next to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for $1.95 billion.

According to the project’s website, two independent reviews and two Department for Infrastructure and Transport reviews showed the cost of the hospital had since blown out to $2.05 billion.

That compares with the $2.3 billion cost of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, which was reported to be Australia’s most expensive building when it opened in 2017.

Former state coordinator-general Jim Hallion is currently conducting an additional cost review, which will consider alternative sites for the new hospital.

InDaily asked Picton which other sites the government was considering but did not receive a response.

“We need to make sure we get this right and that’s why we have brought in eminent infrastructure expert Jim Hallion to identify the best possible site for the new WCH and identify the true cost of the project as it stood and site options,” he said.

Picton told reporters in April that the proposed railyards site presented a “range of complexities”, due to its small footprint and triangular shape.

He said it would be beneficial to have the hospital situated next to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, but location had to be balanced against limitations such as size.

Making proposed plot’s size more challenging is the government’s election commitment to spend $100 million fitting in an extra 50 beds into wards such as cancer and mental health.

Asked in February whether the election policy would delay the hospital’s scheduled 2027 opening, then Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas said: “we don’t believe so”.

Picton told InDaily the government remained committed to delivering on its promise, saying that under the Marshall Government’s plan, the hospital would have had one less paediatric and adolescent overnight bed.

“We must make sure this project delivers for the long term, with future growth capacity for decades to come,” he said.

“We are embracing the opportunity to build a purpose-built, state-of-the-art, world class hospital that will provide care and treatment for women and children for future generations.”

The Opposition’s health spokesperson Ashton Hurn questioned Labor’s history with the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital, after the party controversially scrapped plans to redevelop it ahead of the 2018 election.

“Since the (2022) election, they are using every excuse under the sun to justify their delay,” she told InDaily.

“Labor has put the delivery into the slow lane.

“When they ordered the review they said it would take weeks rather than months. Now we learn that they won’t even start the build this year.

“Labor is intentionally delaying another critical state infrastructure project that was stacked up ready to go.”

Meanwhile, the government is considering how it will transform the current Women’s and Children’s Hospital site in North Adelaide once the replacement hospital is built.

Planning Minister Nick Champion told InDaily in June that Renewal SA had been asked to conduct preliminary investigations into future uses for the site.

He said the investigations would examine possible engineering challenges and include market research.

“No decisions will be made on the future of the site until the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital is progressed,” he said.

“In the meantime, Renewal SA’s conceptual work will continue.”

Selling the current Women’s and Children’s Hospital site to a private developer would present a lucrative opportunity for the state government, given it spans a major landholding of five allotments over two site areas, overlooks the park lands and is close to key landmarks including Adelaide Oval and St Peter’s Cathedral.

The government could also decide to redevelop the site, as it did with the old Royal Adelaide Hospital on North Terrace, which is now the Lot Fourteen innovation precinct housing research and technology companies, as well as a soon-to-be-built Entrepreneur and Innovation Centre and Tarrkarri Centre for First Nations Cultures.

Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor told InDaily in March that she wanted the state government to partner with the Adelaide City Council to redevelop the site.

“While Council has no formal position on future development at the current Women’s and Children’s Hospital site, there is enormous potential to create something which can help shape our city for generations to come,” she said at the time.