Ban on road use to Roundhouse for 'patient safety'

Work on the new Braddan community hub began in 2021

A ban on vehicle access to a new community leisure centre through roads on the Noble's Hospital estate is down to the "safety of service users", the health department has said.

It has given Braddan Commissioners 28 days notice, after which access will be restricted to the newly-built Roundhouse facility.

The local authority said a previous commitment from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in 2016 contradicted that action.

A DHSC spokeswoman said the "smooth operation of the hospital" was the department's "primary concern".

She said while "planning permission was originally granted, which included access to the site via the existing private roads, several years have passed".

In 2022 it was "flagged by the department that access via that route would no longer be suitable due to the increased traffic", she said.

'Not rigorous enough'

Chairman of Braddan Commissioners Andrew Jessop has said the authority had relied on the department's former commitment and no longer had the budget to create a separate access route to the centre.

In a statement the DHSC said it had prioritised transferring the land from the department to the commissioners "at less than market value" so that a dedicated access road could be built.

The department said while the authority had proposed a number of safety measures to address concerns about using the existing road, these "were reviewed and were not considered rigorous enough".

The DHSC would "not compromise on the safety of service users and access for emergency services", it added.

Access by motor vehicles to the Roundhouse using the hospital roads will be not be permitted from 4 March.