More car parking spaces for hospital

May 29^th 2001

Work is underway at the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds to build an extra forty car parking spaces.

The new spaces are all to be at the rear of the hospital near the wards which care for elderly people.  They should be available for use by both staff and patients at the beginning of August.

Getting planning permission for the new spaces has not been easy because there are several tree preservation orders on the hospital site.  Also, the Environment Agency has placed special restrictions on drainage as the area is located over an underground aquifer.

The total cost to the Trust will be around £61,000.  This makes it necessary to charge for parking at a rate of 70p per day for visitors and 30p per day for staff.

The West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust is committed to providing parking spaces for patients and staff, but we recognise that finding a space can be difficult at certain times of the day, said Johanna Finn, Chief Executive.

The extra forty spaces are part of the Trust’s efforts to find a solution to the parking issue, and should make a difference to the problem of parking in neighbouring roads.

However, this issue is not going to disappear and we are still not in the position of guaranteeing a parking space at peak times to everyone who wants one.  I would urge people to take the environmentally friendly option of using public transport whenever possible, and walking and cycling if weather and distances allow.

The Trust will work with St Edmundsbury District Council to look at ways to solve the long-term parking problem.