Hospital due to gain 81 car parking spaces

The project, which has planning approval, will see the creation of 81 spaces at the top end of the current Oberlands site.

Work will begin next week and is expected to be completed by the end of July.

‘We hope that by creating these extra spaces we will be able to reduce the current parking pressure for both staff and service users,’ said Jan Coleman, director of hospital modernisation.

‘At the same time, we are currently assessing the first report of the travel strategy to evaluate the long-term changes needed to parking on the site that will be necessary when construction starts for the modernisation programme.’

The project to extend the number of parking spaces will start by replacing the site’s soakaway system, which involves excavating the existing soakaway, replacing it and backfilling to its original level.

One tree, which has honey fungus and is considered hazardous, will be removed.

The new car park will employ ‘no-dig’ low impact construction methods, which use gridded matting designed to avoid potential soil compaction, helping to maintain the health of neighbouring trees and their root systems.

There will also be additional tree planting around the site and other planting to support the pollinator project.

Health & Social Care said it had worked hard to preserve the environment and was grateful for advice from the principal environment services officer, Agriculture, Countryside & Land Management Services.