CANCER HOSPITAL GETS GO-AHEAD
VELINDRE’S controversial new cancer centre has been unanimous approval by councillors.
Councillors last night gave their backing to the scheme.
While there have been indicative plans for the design of the building, last night’s approval was for outline permission.
That means the principle of development was approved along with access for the site.
There have been hundreds of objections to the scheme as residents feared it will cause traffic problems in Whitchurch.
There were also concerns about the impact on wildlife.
The new site is on land north-west of Whitchurch playing fields.
It will contain 42 beds and will mainly be in use on weekdays.
There will be no surgery at the hospital but services including radiotherapy; chemotherapy; pharmacy; inpatient beds; outpatients’ services; support services; and imaging with a conference centre facility and a Centre for Learning, Research and Development.
Mark Farrar, speaking on behalf of the developers said the location was selected by the trust and this “centrally located” site will be convenient for patients who travel from across South Wales.
He says they will access it via Coryton “completely avoiding Whitchurch”.
The committee was told the Coryton interchange can take the anticipated as a result of the new hospital.
Whitchurch resident John Duff said that a new bridge planned for access to the site will be “one of the biggest in the city”.
“This 100m bridge will be one of the biggest in Cardiff. It’s proposed to be built on a nature reserve.
“186 trees will be knocked down for the bridges. They’re going to be lost forever.
“If you build on 40% of this grassland, it’s gone forever. Nothing will bring that back.”
Whitchurch Councillor Timothy Davies described the plans as “environmental vandalism”.
He says the area is currently in a deficit for open space but this will further reduce it.
Coun Davies and his ward colleague Councillor Mike Phillips both said they understand the need for a new development. But Coun Davies asked: “Why here?”
He told the planning committee only 25% of users will come from Cardiff so he
did not understand how the trust can say it will suit all patients.
“It’s a piecemeal proposal,” he says.
Coun Davies believes the application is being “steamrollered” through.
Councillors asked for details on the numbers of parking spaces and staff who would need them.
The council officer says an assessment has looked at the existing staff numbers who take their own cars and the number of staff who will be looking at the new site and created an estimate.
But Conservative Councillor Sean Driscoll said he feared that they would end up with a facility “like the Heath Hospital” with less parking than required in years to come.
The council responded, saying it had taken a “worst case scenario” for staff numbers and equated parking in relation to that higher number.
“On opening there will be less on site anyway,” the council officer says.
Conservative Councillor Lyn Hudson, who represents Heath, said she is sympathetic to residents as she has the Heath Hospital in her ward.
She said the city’s main hospital has outgrown its site and “anything put here will outgrow its site too”.
“I am reluctant to refuse the outline permission as we will be catering for the most vulnerable. We need a cancer centre and a state of the art cancer centre,” she said.
“This will soon outgrow parking. You need to double that,” because she says more services are arriving at UHW “every day”.
The planning team reassured councillors that Heath and Llandough are general hospitals whereas this application is for a cancer centre.
Coun Mike Jones-Pritchard is a Whitchurch councillor. He has stayed out of public debate so far as he sits on this planning application.
“We are looking at an outline application here for the use of the site but with vastly different access points,” he said.
“I’m not comfortable with development of the site, it has permission already.
“Just because a developer hasn’t come forward yet it doesn’t mean they won’t”.
He said he believed this building incorporated any growth needed and the building was “future proofed” in terms of size.
As for traffic, he says there are just 42 beds so it is “minimal” occasional visits unlike at a general hospital.
The vote in support of the new hospital was unanimous.
Steve Ham, chief executive of Velindre NHS Trust, said: “The approval of our outline planning application is a significant milestone for the population we serve across South East Wales.
“Although it has served us and our patients well for more than 60 years, our current cancer centre is no longer fit for purpose.
“More and more people across South East Wales require cancer treatment and our care.
“Because of that continued increase in demand on our services, we must do things differently.
“As we move in to this next phase, we’re looking forward to continuing to work with our patients and our local community to ensure the new Velindre Cancer Centre and its location can benefit everyone.”