Health trust defends design as critics blast £19m hospital plan

NHS East Riding's plans for a new 30-bed hospital in Swinemoor Lane were given outline planning permission in October last year, and East Riding Council's planning committee approved finer details, including its appearance, layout and scale, yesterday.

The scheme – which was delayed after a great crested newt was found on the site – is being opposed, however, by Beverley Town Council, Beverley and District Civic Society, and scores of residents.

The town council called the design "poor and lacking in character", while the civic society described the front and entrance as "under-whelming". It said the architecture could affect the morale of patients, and claimed the landscaping had been "dumbed down".

Speaking after yesterday's meeting, Professor Barbara English, who campaigned to maintain facilities at Beverley Westwood Hospital, said: "I'm very disappointed.

"Five people voted against it and there were some very powerful speeches against it, mainly on the grounds that they thought it was a really bad design, quite uncharacteristic, a mixture of brick, render and wood cladding.

"Some said it was more like a shopping centre or a pre-fabricated factory. A number of people were worried that the construction of the hospital would remove the beds from Hornsea and Driffield.

"The majority of the councillors felt they had been warned if they didn't put their hands up and say yes the money would disappear – it was either that hospital or no hospital."

As well as eight individual letters of objection, a petition of 192 signatures had also been submitted from people who said it would be in the wrong place and who would prefer existing facilities to be upgraded.

The hospital will replace the 36 beds at Hornsea Cottage Hospital, Driffield's Alfred Bean Hospital, and Beverley Westwood Hospital.

The petitioners claimed to have earlier gathered more than 400 signatures of objection when outline planning permission was requested, but East Riding Council said it had no record of having received them.

There will be 101 car parking spaces for visitors although it is estimated about 450 visitors per day will attend the hospital.

The trust has also been criticised for the way it has consulted the public over the plans, with no consultation events held in Driffield and Hornsea, and the design changing from a two-storey building to a one-storey version as the process developed.

Facilities and services will include an out-patients department, a minor injuries and out-of-hours service, diagnostics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and cardiac rehabilitation.

NHS East Riding called it a "high quality" building, and said in a statement: "The new hospital will be a very important and beneficial development for the people of the East Riding of Yorkshire.

"Our plans to build a new 19m community hospital at Swinemoor Lane, Beverley, have received strong support from local people who attended open events, NHS staff, the local MP and other local community representatives.

"The development is critical for our plans to bring more services out of larger hospitals and into the community.

"We want to offer high quality care in a 21st century environment for patients and staff. Throughout the development we have involved clinicians who will be working within the hospital."