Hospital plan for two-tier parking

Temporary solution to add 89 spaces

The Uxbridge Gazette Series

ATEMPORARY car park could be built at Hillingdon Hospital to help put an end to queueing chaos for staff and visitors.

The aim is to add to the existing car park’s 390 spaces by creating 89 more. It would remain in place for five years, while managers consider options for a more permanent arrangement.

Planning officers at Hillingdon Council have recommended approval of the plans and a committee is scheduled to make a decision in November. The additional spaces could be available by next summer.

Hospital bosses say the project, the cost of which has yet to be determined, would provide ‘much-needed’ additional parking, helping to alleviate some of the problems caused by vehicles having to queue in Pield Heath Road.

Steve Watkins, spokesman for Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said: “Adequate parking facilities are a challenge for most hospitals and Hillingdon is no exception.

“The hospital is well served by public transport but a lot of patients still arrive by car and have to queue for entry during peak hours. This does contribute to congestion on Pield Health Road and the trust expects the additional spaces will help ease congestion.”

The car park is used by both staff and visitors, who often have to wait for a space.

The proposed 2,096m2 temporary car park would be built above the existing one, with designated areas for staff and visitors.

The expected capacity would be 191 spaces for staff and 288 for visitors, although these numbers have yet to be finalised.

However, The Community Voice, an independent group that monitors NHS services in north-west London and south-west Hertfordshire, has said those numbers would not be enough to end queuing in the long term.

Secretary Margaret Ross said: “It’s better than nothing.

“I personally have been there at nine-ish and I’ve had to queue in the road to get in, although I’ve never had to wait more than half an hour, and that’s very unusual.

“Whether 89 spaces would cover the queue that’s there, I don’t know.”

If the development receives planning permission, motorists would continue to access the site from Pield Heath Road. However, the automatic barriers would be upgraded, with users paying on exit. TRIBUTES have been paid to a ‘remarkable’ woman, who grew up in Germany during the Second World War and became a devoted teacher.

Carola Lomasney, who had taught at Drayton Manor High School, in Hanwell, and was head of chemistry and physics at the former Townfield Secondary School, in Hayes, died at Hillingdon Hospital on Wednesday, October 22, aged 94.

Her daughter, Ilse Leenders, 64, who lives in Milton Keynes, said: “She had such strength and dignity – a very proud lady.

“Regardless of whether she disagreed or agreed with you, she never judged anybody. She was just always there for everybody.”

Mrs Lomasney was born in 1920 in Coesfeld, near Dortmund.

While doing her national service, she became passionate about chemistry. She graduated from Humboldt University of Berlin with a degree in chemistry and physics in 1944.

During the Second World War, her flat in Berlin was bombed, and she left the city on the last train before the Russian army surrounded the station.

While working as an interpreter in 1945, she met John Joseph Lomasney, an officer in the 8th Royal Army Service Corps (RASC), who was stationed near Dortmund.

They got married and had six children – Patrick, Katharine, Ilse, Thomas, Richard and Peter – who have given them 13 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

The family moved to Wood Green in London in 1956, then to Hanwell, and to Greenford Avenue, Hayes, in 1959.

Mrs Lomasney earned a second degree, a diploma in sociology and chemistry, which was presented by the Queen Mother in 1973.

In the same year, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society, and joined the staff at Townfield Secondary School – now the Hayes campus of Uxbridge College – where she remained until she retired.

Mrs Lomasney played the organ at St Raphael RC Church for more than 20 years, until the age of 80.

She also started a Friday club for OAPs, which is still running at the church in Morrison Road, Yeading.

A celebration of her life will be held there on Tuesday, November 4 – all are welcome to attend.