OPPOSITION TO £180M CANCER CENTRE PLANS
THOUSANDS of people have signed a petition against plans for a new £180m cancer hospital in Cardiff.
The new facility is planned to be built on a greenfield site as a replacement for the 60-year-old Velindre Cancer Centre
Hospital bosses say the centre hospital will soon no longer have the space or facilities to deal with the growing number of patients it sees every year from all over Wales.
But local residents are worried about losing the green space, describe it as a “poorly chosen site” and are concerned about the recent submission of two applications for access roads to the new centre.
The meadow where the hospital is due to be built has become a popular area for residents to take their daily exercise during lockdown – heightening concerns about the impact of its loss.
Local MS Julie Morgan has warned that with planning permission having been granted more than 20 years ago, a failure to build a hospital on the site could result in housing being built instead.
Catherine Lewis lives on the nearby Hollybush estate and has had treatment from Velindre after being diagnosed with breast cancer. But she still has major concerns.
She says: “It’s a hard one as of course we all want world-class cancer research facilities, but I am concerned this is really about money and housebuilding developments.
“There are many more suitable sites that don’t involve destroying a green space and building bridges that are said to cost £27m to access the site that is surrounded by a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a nature reserve. It also means taking a piece of community playing field gifted to residents by Lady Cory specifically for sport and leisure.
“I’m a patient at Velindre, recovering from breast cancer. The meadows, Taff Trail and nature reserve have played a vital role in my recovery and wellbeing.”
Tessa Marshall, who has helped organise the petition, said: “It’s clear the community will be devastated by the loss of this green space. We need our decision-makers to listen when we say we would prefer a nature reserve and hospital set in the beautiful old listed buildings on the current site, in line with the principle of sustainable development, over new commercial developments that will destroy the home for nature in north Cardiff and change the character of Whitchurch forever.
“We believe we need a new centre to develop new treatments for cancer and modernise the therapies offered. But we disagree that it needs to be done on the meadow.”
In a joint letter to the principal planner, Conservative councillors Mike Phillips, Linda Morgan and Mia Rees for the area said: “The current pandemic restrictions leading to increased need for green space and use of natural environments, have only served to highlight how essential it is for us to maintain and improve this network of green space for Cardiff’s residents.
“We feel this application should be rejected. If it is not, we are giving no credit to the positive and progressive changes made to planning policy in the last two decades, and certainly it renders meaningless any declaration of a climate emergency.
“We are supportive of the many local residents who are opposed to any development on the meadows, and are working with them to make sure their views are heard.”
MS Julie Morgan, who is backing the development, says she will look at the two additional planning proposals once they are submitted. She has also written to the council to ask for planning applications to be delayed so local residents would be able to have their say.
Ms Morgan added: “The northern meadows land already has planning permission to be built on. I opposed this in 1995 but, after a public inquiry in 1999, planning permission was granted. This cannot be undone. If a hospital is not built on the meadows, it is likely to be housing. Development is inevitable.
“I believe we owe it to our population to provide a centre of excellence for cancer treatment when one in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetimes. It is one of the biggest killers in Wales.
“I know people are very concerned about the environmental impact of the new hospital and they hold the northern meadows land and its wildlife dear. The project team assure me they will go to great lengths to mitigate the impact on trees and wildlife, using ecologists to advise them at every step of the way.
“They aim to make the new Velindre an exemplar of green hospital design and we should hold them to this. I understand that the project team have given assurances to the Future Generations Commissioner that they will go above and beyond her goals in terms of making the development green and sustainable. They want the site to be open and green and an asset to the community, which I believe it will continue to be.
“I also believe that, once the construction phase is over, the new access route via Asda at Coryton roundabout will decrease the amount of traffic currently travelling into the heart of Whitchurch.
“There are some very misleading statements online about the Velindre development, including saying it is mainly for research not inpatients.
“This is not the case. Neither is it the case that it is a ‘proposed development,’ as it has already had outline planning granted in 2018.”
David Powell, project director at Velindre University NHS Trust, said: “I recognise that some people remain concerned about the planning consent we already have on NHS land for the new Velindre Cancer Centre.
“We have a lot of community and patient support for our plans and we want to work with people, whatever their views, to provide a cancer centre in a sustainable environment which future generations will be proud of.”