[14
JUL 00] COVENTRY
HEALTH AUTHORITY NEWS
Final Barrier Lifted for Super-Hospital Scheme
The new
super-hospital for Coventry will be built at the Walsgrave site, and
should be open within five years, it has finally been confirmed.
Central Government
has lifted the final barrier to the decision for the new building to
take place on the edge-of-city site.
Although the location
was chosen some time ago, a holding objection covering transport was
only lifted on Thursday afternoon by deputy prime minister John
Prescott.
That now means the
scheme can go out to tender. The contract is so big, it has to be
advertised across Europe and interested companies asked to bid for the
job.
There is no formal
timescale, but it could take between 18 months and two years before
any construction begins.
Bidding companies
will be given a few months to come up with detailed designs. And the
successful group will probably need three years for construction at
the Clifford Bridge Road site.
The Walsgrave-based
scheme will prove to be cheaper in the long term, but many people
thought it was too remote and difficult for people to access.
Coventry Health
Authority was behind the Walsgrave site. That was in spite of local
opposition, mainly based on access to the site.
People in the south
and west of the city, say they would be faced with an eight-mile road
trip or face taking two bus journeys that could mean a 60-minute-plus
trip each way.
But some £1.6
million has been allocated to improve public trasnport access to the
site and that will be topped up with least £500,000 annually.
Karen Railton, health
authority spokeswoman, said today:
“We are very
pleased with the decision.
"It will now
go out to contract and the advert will go in The European Journal.
“It was a
decision of the health authority a year ago to back this site, and
we are delighted that it can now get underway.”
The Coventry and
Warwickshire site, with parts at least 100 years old, is set to be
demolished and make way for housing and office use. It will go the way
of the former Whitley, Gulson Road and Paybody hospitals, as hospital
services will finally be all located on one site.
The Walsgrave
buildings, opened in 1966 as the Coventry Maternity Hospital, will
also come down when the super-hospital opens around 2005.
|
