Revised plans to build a £150 million new Sussex Cancer Centre have been approved despite concerns over a decision to scrap almost 300 parking spaces.
The decision was made by Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee at Hove Town Hall this afternoon (Wednesday 7 May) by eight votes to one.
The original plans for the cancer centre – on the site of the old Barry Building at the Royal Sussex County Hospital – included two levels of underground parking.
According to the revised plans, they are not needed because University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex, leases 530 staff parking spaces in Whitehawk and at the Racecourse and runs shuttle buses.
Neighbour Julian Redpath said that the community around the hospital welcomed the cancer centre but the new building would be too close to their homes and 21ft (6.5 metres) taller than the design approved in 2012 but with only two-thirds of the floor space.
He said that the building could be positioned further east, removing the public square to make room for a garden for patients and visitors on the Upper Abbey Road side of the hospital site.
Mr Redpath said: “Many hospitals and charities such as Martlets are incorporating such biodiverse wellbeing spaces in their cancer units and our hospital should do likewise, rather than providing an unwanted public area of hard slabs and a few planters mainly appealing to smokers and vapers.
“All around the hospital perimeter, there are public areas which the trust is incapable of keeping clean.”
Labour councillor Tristram Burden, who represents Queen’s Park ward, said that neighbours had regularly shared their concerns about the loss of 300 parking spaces from the trust’s plans.
He spent nearly two years chairing the Hospital Liaison Group, a forum for residents to hear and speak about the huge changes that have been taking place at the Eastern Road site.
Councillor Burden said: “Key workers already find parking in the area extremely challenging and this will not only exacerbate these issues (and) put great strain on local traffic in an area that already experiences a lot of congestion.
“The increase in traffic in Upper Abbey Road and Whitehawk Road are of special, significant concern and the height of the building is a massive change from the Barry Building that once stood there.”
University Hospitals Sussex representatives told councillors that more spaces were now available for patients and the public at the hospital because staff used off-site parking at Whitehawk Football Club and the Racecourse.
The trust’s planning consultant Tom Rudd, associate director of the Building Design Partnership, said that there were 1,006 parking spaces in total on and off site.
As well as the 530 spaces in Whitehawk and at the Racecourse, there were 107 parking spaces closer to the workplace for essential staff.
The trust’s director of capital development and property Roy Evans said that the new cancer centre was a priority.
Its importance had been underlined by the government’s review of the new hospitals programme which included money for the project in the first round of funding.
Mr Evans said that planning permission was essential to support the business case that had been presented to the government and to receive the money necessary to complete the building by 2030.
He said: “Since permission was originally granted in 2012, the clinical and funding landscape has shifted, with the need to refresh the proposals to align with modern healthcare needs and deliver a building within the NHS budget.
“The revised proposals help the trust to respond to rising rates of cancer nationally and achieve our goals of earlier and faster cancer diagnosis and treatment, reduced waiting times and improved outcomes for those with cancer.”
Labour councillor Tobias Sheard asked what would happen if the committee rejected the revised plans and told the trust to stick to the original scheme which was given planning permission in 2012.
Mr Evans said that there was no government funding for the original scheme so the project would not move forward.
Conservative councillor Carol Theobald said that she was on the Planning Committee when the original application went through in 2012.
She said: “There was a worry about car parking then but we understood about the underground car parking so that sort of satisfied the committee at the time.
“To go down from 390 spaces to 98 is a lot and it’s a real worry. It’s a nightmare to park anywhere near the hospital, even the multi-storey car park which I tried out.
“It’s pretty full up. I got in a tiny space and gashed my arm on a wing mirror. It was a horrible experience.”
Councillor Theobald was concerned about the knock-on effects on parking in neighbouring streets. She was the only committee member to vote against the application.
Green councillor Sue Shanks said: “We’ve heard quite a lot of reason why there’s a few issues with this application but basically this is the application we’ve got.
“We’re not entirely happy with it and it’s to do with costs why it’s changed but I can’t really see a reason for refusing this now.”
Councillor Sheard said: “I am on the fence about this but we do need a cancer centre. As I asked earlier, it’s either this or nothing.
“I am shocked and a bit angry with the trust that there wasn’t a contingency plan when the original plans came forward.
“You demolished the previous building and then: ‘Oh no, wait, we can’t deliver what we already promised. Let’s go back and change it again.’”
Labour councillor Joy Robinson said that there must be a required number of dedicated parking spaces for cancer patients in the transport plan.
She said: “It’s all very well saying, ‘yes, you can come through the Louisa Martindale (Building),’ but there’s got to be a parking space in there for them.
“I think this is so important and this is what makes it so difficult for us. I’m veering towards saying ‘yes’ whereas a week ago I wouldn’t have done but it’s so difficult.”
Eight members of the Planning Committee voted for the scheme. Councillor Theobald voted against.