Residents of a seniors lifestyle and aged care village will call on the ACT government for help after continually missing out on sleep due to an all-hours generator on the site for the capital's new hospital.
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The management of the Kangara Waters retirement home at Belconnen said residents were concerned about noise from three generators on the University of Canberra Public Hospital construction site, with fears the problem will worsen as more are needed for the expanding build.
Stig Anderson, the chief strategy officer of IRT, who own the residential centre, said the head contractor's repositioning of the generators and erection of a temporary hay bale wall around the one operating "24/7" had not solved the problem.
"Unfortunately our residents continue to be disturbed by noise from the generators, particularly at night when they are trying to sleep," he said.
"We believe the only way to effectively address this issue is for power to be connected to the site as soon as possible, [and] IRT will be joining the IRT Kangara Waters Residents' Committee in writing to the ACT government to call for power to be connected."
Kangara Waters contains both a lifestyle community and a care centre, with the latter including about 120 private suites plus 16 secure suites for residents living with dementia.
An ACT Health spokesman said the Environment Protection Authority had been in contact with head contractor Brookfield Multiplex in regards to this issue, and ACT Health would, "as a priority, meet with all parties concerned on Tuesday morning to address concerns and work towards minimising noise levels".
"The generator, which operates 24 hours per day, services the site compound area and is required for safety and security services, such as emergency lighting and closed circuit TV," he said.
It was anticipated October would be the earliest mains power would be available at the site, he said.
There was no immediate response to queries put to Brookfield Multiplex on Friday afternoon.
The sub-acute rehabilitation hospital, costing $212 million, was expected to open in 2018. Mr Anderson said it would be a welcome asset for Belconnen and Canberra.
Separate construction in the immediate area will begin by the end of the year after the ACT government committed nearly $10 million to duplicate Aikman Drive, which separates the hospital site from Kangara Waters, between Ginninderra Drive and Emu Bank.
ACT Health published a video on May 27 showing the pouring of the first concrete slab on the site.
