Trust seeking land lease deal to ease hospital parking problems

PARKING problems for visitors to East Yorkshire's biggest hospital should be alleviated by a new car park.

Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust wants to lease land at Castle Hill Hospital, in Cottingham, near Hull, from the nearby Twinacres Nurseries for a 24-hour car park with 200 spaces.

The hospital has increased in size dramatically in recent years and although there are 1,600 parking places, there have been complaints about difficulties getting a space at peak visiting times.

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The nursery's owner has applied to East Riding Council to vary planning conditions to allow the car park to operate round the clock.

Neighbours are concerned that the car park, on the opposite side of Castle Road to the hospital, will become permanent and that when the nursery wants to build its own parking for customers the green belt will be further eroded.

Comments from those who wrote in 11 letters of objection, also point out that the area was subject to flooding in 2007.

Cottingham Parish Council is urging refusal on the grounds of insufficient information.

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But planners are recommending councillors approve the change at a meeting in Beverley tomorrow. They say that despite concerns about the amount of information given on the application, the potential for the site to be further developed is "speculation".

They add: "The local planning authority has received a number of comments from local residents that relate to the appropriateness of the way in which Castle Hill are managing their own growth and development and also their own finances.

"These matters are not material to the consideration of this application."

Parking and other transport issues at the hospital, which is a specialist heart and cancer centre for the region, was the subject of a survey by local health watchdog LINk earlier this year. Hull LINk team leader Jonathan Appleton said: "I think it's welcome and I think it is needed but whether it will entirely stop people having problems I'm not sure.

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"From a LINk point of view it's obviously an issue that a lot of people are concerned about.

"You get people at peak visiting times literally driving around and not being able to find anywhere to park.

"We will have to monitor how well this site alleviates the problems and meets the demand."

One of the hospital's problems is that it can't expand anymore because they sit on top of an aquifer, which carries drinking water from the Wolds. The presence of the aquifer nearly scuppered plans for the new 67m cancer hospital.

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The health trust's director of business and development and strategy David Haire said: "We know that car parking at Castle Hill Hospital has been the source of frustration for people during our busiest periods.

"The trust conducted a traffic survey last year which highlighted that we would need around 200 additional spaces to alleviate this situation.

"We anticipate that the lease of the land opposite our site will enable people to park more easily at Castle Hill Hospital and that will be a positive benefit for our patients.

"The area will used for staff parking allowing the creation of more spaces on site for patients and visitors to use."

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Castle Hill is home to the award-winning Queen's Centre for Oncology and Haematology, the Daisy medical research building and the state of the art Centre for Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery.