A parking crisis is looming for West Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust. Demand for car spaces from new developments at Watford General and St Albans City Hospitals looks like exceeding planned supply. A year-old £39.3 million multi-storey car park, the Trust’s claimed ‘parking solution’, is not likely to be big enough. Many patients, other visitors and staff could be forced to park well away from the hospitals.
The New Hospital Campaign is urging a ‘radical rethink’ of the Trust’s Watford proposals – planning for an emergency care and specialist hospital on a clear new site rather than trying to squeeze so much onto the cramped Watford General site.
NHC Co-ordinator Philip Aylett said:
‘The Watford General site is simply unsuitable for the planned expansion. The case for redevelopment there relied on the claim that construction work would not interfere with the operation of the Hospital. This is patently untrue – disruption will be endemic at Watford General.’
At St Albans City Hospital, plans for a new elective surgery hub to reduce backlogs, serving the whole of Hertfordshire and West Essex, are stumbling over lack of car park space.
The Trust are desperately searching for spaces to meet the increased demand generated by the new hub. One possibility is for 20-30 cars to park on the Batchwood estate – a mile away across a busy road. Mr Aylett criticised the Trust’s St Albans parking proposals as ‘absurd’.
The full media release is here