Staff block could be built on hospital greenfield land
A green field by the Princess Elizabeth Hospital could be used for ‘urgent’ key-worker housing, the president of the Health & Social Care committee has said.
HSC president Al Brouard ruled out re-purposing the nearby Duchess of Kent – Vauqueidor House – as it was fully occupied by a number of services.
But the green field between it and the main hospital building could house accommodation key to recruiting and retaining health and social care staff.
‘There is urgent need for additional purpose-built key worker accommodation and developing such accommodation on the Princess Elizabeth Hospital campus has the support of the committee,’ said Deputy Brouard.
The existing John Henry Court accommodation on the PEH campus was a popular option for HSC staff but there is further demand for similar accommodation close to the hospital.
‘The area of land between Vauqueidor House and the main hospital building has been identified as a possible site to build. The steep gradient of this field means it is not the best agricultural land,’ he added.
‘I understand that the Policy & Resources Committee has written to the Development & Planning Authority to explore the possibility of building here, but this is just the very early stages of any such proposal. A formal application has yet to be made.’
DPA president Deputy Victoria Oliver said there was a planning policy enabling exceptional consideration to be made on the ‘rare occasion’ where a proposed development was of strategic importance or the public interest – and where no suitable alternative sites were available.
’Based on information seen so far, there would appear to be a strong case to be made in principle for more key worker accommodation on the PEH campus, which is why policy S5 may be relevant to this situation.
‘Should an application be received it would go through the normal planning process including publicity to allow people to make comments in the usual way,’ she said.
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