Planning application submitted for new hospital

The Government of Jersey said there had been public support for the planned acute hospital at Overdale

Plans for Jersey's new £710m acute hospital have taken a step forward with a detailed planning application submitted for approval.

The Government of Jersey said a public consultation had demonstrated "support" for the concept designs for the acute hospital at Overdale in St Helier and its timeline for delivery by 2028.

It said the hospital plans were "affordable, fit-for-purpose and achievable".

The government said all documents would be available for viewing once the application had been "validated" and islanders would be invited to "express their views" on the scheme.

'Strong support'

A government spokesman said: "The submission of the planning application follows a period of public consultation.

"Islanders showed strong support for much of the scheme, with an overarching sentiment from respondents to 'get on with' delivery of the hospital.

"The site masterplan has evolved to respond to stakeholder engagement, which has resulted in changes to create a more robust design solution."

As well as the Overdale acute facility, the government is planning an outpatient facility at Kensington Place and a mental health campus at St Saviour's Hospital, in a package of facilities costing more than £1bn.

Deputy Tom Binet, Minister for Health and Social Services, said the government had made a "commitment to islanders" in its common strategic policy, adding it would start building the acute hospital during this term of office.

Deputy Binet said he hoped to see a determination to the planning application by early next year

"The submission of the planning application brings us a significant step closer to achieving this commitment and delivering the new healthcare facilities our island so urgently needs," said Mr Binet.

Plans for a combined hospital at Overdale were previously submitted in 2021 and approved in May 2022, but later deemed unaffordable and replaced with the current multi-site scheme.

Mr Binet said the next steps for the planning application would see Minister for Environment Deputy Steve Luce review the information and determine its process.

"At this stage, we hope to see a determination to the application early next year, and we remain on track to complete the construction of the acute facility by the end of 2028," Mr Binet said.

“At the same time as the planning submission, I’m pleased to be publishing Supporting Information for Phase 1 of the programme, ahead of the budget debate later in the year.

Analysis by BBC Jersey political reporter Ammar Ebrahim

The submission of a planning application for an acute hospital at Overdale is an important step forward but there is still a long way to go before it becomes a reality.

Previous plans for a new hospital had made it to this stage only to be rejected by the planning minister. The Our Hospital Project was given the green light in 2022 but Kristina Moore’s government decided not to progress it.

This time the health minister and planning officers are confident they will get planning permission.

They feel they have addressed some of the concerns around traffic, access and the impact on the island landscape. The size and scale of the project is also smaller than the Our Hospital Project, which was the last attempt to develop a new hospital in Jersey.

During a briefing, planning officers were keen to emphasise how the development would help patient wellbeing and improve biodiversity.

However, this plan is for a multi-site hospital and Mr Binet and his team still need to submit planning applications for the other two sites at Kensington Place and in St Saviour.

Mr Binet acknowledged the sentiment of islanders is for his team to "just get on with it" but he will have a lot of hurdles to clear before the foundations for this new hospital can be laid.