Torbay Hospital trust urged to tackle parking problems

Unanimous backing for new unit

It’s claimed distraught patients are missing appointments because they can’t find parking spaces at Torbay Hospital and nearby residential streets are ‘at full capacity’.

Now the trust that runs the site has been urged to do more to cope with the demand for parking as it begins work on a full-scale rebuild.

Members of the Torbay council planning committee gave their unanimous backing to an application for a new four-storey breast care unit which will be part of a 10-year rebuild for which the previous government pledged funding.

They also had questions about parking, staff accommodation and the amount of solar panels planned for the roofs of hospital buildings, but no-one from the healthcare trust was at the meeting to answer them.

A number of existing buildings will be knocked down to make way for the new structure, which will include specialist breast care facilities.

The site, to the south west of the hospital campus, is currently home to a number of old buildings that are no longer needed. The majority of the existing buildings are three-storey residential units for staff which date from the 1980s.

One council officer said the proposal represented ‘a betterment of existing facilities’.

Twenty car parking spaces will be lost as a result of the building, but the same number will be provided on a ‘like for like’ basis elsewhere.

Cllr Katya Maddison (Ind, Shiphay) said: “The hospital’s expansion is a good news story, but parking in Shiphay really isn’t.

“We can expect more staff, more patients and more visitors, and it’s the Shiphay community who will be bearing the brunt of that. Local streets are already at capacity.”

Cllr Mandy Darling (Lib Dem, Tormohun) added; “It is excellent that we are going to see our services improved, but it would be remiss of us not to talk about the concerns we have about parking.

“Patients have been absolutely distraught because they can’t find parking spaces and have missed appointments. Everybody has struggled with parking.”

Members were told that the trust was looking to sort out parking by considering a new multi-storey car park on the site, and a park and ride service.

Cllr Mike Fox (Lib Dem, Barton with Watcombe) summed up: “We want this to go ahead as quickly as possible. It’s really important for Torbay, but we are also mindful of the concerns of residents in that area over the inadequacy of current parking.”