Hospital bosses drop plans for extra parking

The reverse move came to light in a planning application

Hospital bosses have proposed dropping plans to build hundreds of parking spaces to cater for extra staff, patients and visitors at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

The move was revealed in an application to amend already granted planning permission for the new Sussex Cancer Centre building in Eastern Road, Brighton.

The scheme was granted consent with a two-floor basement car park, but the revised proposal - which goes before council planners later - would have almost 300 fewer parking spaces.

The hospital's director of capital development and property, Roy Evans, said "a great deal has changed" since the original plans were made and sufficient parking would be provided.

The original plans were approved in March 2012, and the extra parking reflected the hospital becoming an increasingly wider regional centre for medical care, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Mr Evans said: "We are committed to providing the best possible regional cancer centre for patients and we've worked hard to produce a scheme that can be funded and delivered within Wave 1 of the New Hospitals Programme, starting construction next year."

The plans took into account the higher numbers expected to travel from places less well-served by public transport, and staff whose shifts started or finished when public transport was less feasible.

On-street parking near the hospital was too expensive for most staff with time limits that were much shorter than a typical shift, the LDRS reported.

Almost half of all staff at the hospital drove to and from work by themselves, it added.

Mr Evans said: "We have significantly increased public parking at the hospital by prioritising use of existing on-site spaces for patients and visitors."

He added that moving staff parking to an off-site park and ride had meant "overall, parking dedicated to patients has increased".

The revised plans are due to go before Brighton & Hove City Council's Planning Committee later on Wednesday.