A CONTROVERSIAL multi-storey car park for York Hospital patients and visitors is set to receive the final go-ahead this week.
The £4 million structure with parking for 250 cars will be built at the rear of the hospital's current car park and could be in use by April next year.
It is hoped that the new car park will cut traffic gridlock in the Wigginton Road area and delays for patients going to appointments at the hospital.
The board of York Hospitals Trust will meet on Wednesday to approve the proposal, which will be funded by a Private Finance Initiative and is part of a capital investment programme of £30 million worth of improvements at the site.
First Management Group (FMG) will meet the construction costs and operate the car park, site barriers and CCTV for 25 years. FMG will retain all income from car park charges, but pay a percentage to the trust each year.
The car park was granted provisional planning approval by City of York Council in August last year, but rows over where temporary staff parking would be based during construction prevented permission being rubber-stamped until December.
The trust's original plan to use tennis courts and playing fields at Bootham Park Hospital to park 160 cars was deemed unacceptable following protests by nearby residents. Instead, there will be 90 staff spaces at Nestl Old Stables, off Wigginton Road, along with 63 spaces behind Bootham Hospital Chapel.
The new car park will be seven metres high and made of a dark terracotta-coloured steel frame with grey-coloured steel grilles attached.
Staff parking for 120 would be created on the retained part of the car park to the front of the new structure.
The trust board is also set to approve York Hospital's bid for NHS Foundation Trust status, following the completion of local consultation.
A report to board members estimates that about £4 million of additional income would be available in 2005-6 as a result of foundation status.
The bid has been backed by York MP Hugh Bayley and City of York Council.
Updated: 09:02 Monday, May 24, 2004
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