No new car park for NHS staff who've been brought to tears over past parking rows
Plans for a big staff car park for Torbay Hospital have been refused on open land on the other side of a main road.
Hospital managers supported the scheme for a 250-space ‘Park and Stride’ near the County Court off Nicholson Road in Torquay.
The site is on the other side of Riviera Way from the main hospital site on land protected as a Local Green Space in the Torquay Neighbourhood Plan.
The hospital said there was a shortage of space for parking on the hospital site.
It said the facility was vital for its redevelopment plans and because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But councillors raised safety concerns about staff crossing the busy multi-lane highway.
They were told that the hospital had not supplied enough information on issues including the impact of traffic and the ecology of the site.
They were also told that protected open land could only be developed in “very special circumstances”.
Cllr Jackie Thomas made a plea to the committee to allow the scheme to go ahead.
She said the hospital was a partner and the council should be working with it to find a solution.
The councillor said permitting the car park would show support for NHS staff who had been responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
Cllr Barbara Lewis said the needs of the hospital were special circumstances which meant the car park should be permitted
Other councillors raised concerns about the safety of staff walking to the hospital from the car park across the main road.
Cllr Jack Dart said he supported the NHS and its staff, but the committee had to focus on planning issues.
He said: “The applicants should have provided the local authority with more information.”
Councillors heard the hospital said the work could be completed in 16 weeks.
But they were told that ecology surveys ahead of construction had to take place in the spring, which would create a delay.
They also heard at the meeting on Monday night that no alternative sites had been considered.
The application was from Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and Belstone Fox Project Management Ltd.
The plan was for the trust to lease it for an initial 15 years.
The applicants said the car park would not cause extra journeys and it would reduce on-street parking around the hospital.
The committee refused the application by six votes to two, with one abstention.