Hospital chiefs deny car park closure ruling
Confusion over 700-space lot yards from new site
PLANNING bosses at Scotland’s largest local authority have denied “shutting down” a 700-space car park which could help relieve a hospital parking crisis.
The Herald revealed last week that Stirling-based construction firm, Ogilvie, had raised an objection to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s application for a 500-capacity temporary car park 15 minutes’ walk from the Southern General University Hospital.
The firm said it was an “unnecessary use of public funding” when Ogilvie already owned a vacant parking lot with space for 700 vehicles just yards from the new hospital campus, in Hardgate Road.
Health chiefs have been under fire over a shortage of parking at the new hospital, due to open in April, and hoped the 500 extra spaces would help plug the shortfall.
Ogilvie’s car park was originally used as a car park for contractors working on the hospital build, but a spokesman said they had been approached last year by staff from the existing Southern General who asked whether they could gain access at a “reasonable daily rate”.
Ogilvie agreed and charged £3 per day, but the arrangement was axed after two weeks “on instructions from Glasgow City Council”. Bosses at the construction firm insist they were warned that they would be served with an enforcement notice, thought to relate to a ban on the owners using the car park commercially.
However, following a meeting between the local authority and representatives of Ogilvie on Friday, the council denied this.
According to the council’s version of events, the planning department was notified of an “alleged unauthorised car park” on November 26, 2014, but following an inspection found “no breach”.
A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council said: “As far as the council is concerned, the continued use of this land as a car park does not breach the planning permission for the site.”
The confusion seems to hinge on what the council means by car park, however, with a spokesman for Ogilvie saying it remained unclear on whether it is free to reopen the car park to NHS staff.
A spokesman for Ogilvie Group said: “We are currently considering options for the Hardgate Road site after meeting with City of Glasgow Planning Department.”
The new hospital replaces the Victoria and Western Infirmaries, Yorkhill hospital, old Southern General and Mansionhouse Unit.
More than 10,000 staff will be based there, but there will be only 2,500 car parking spaces for staff and visitors when it fully opens in June. Another 1,000 will be added in 2016. The Ogilvie car park appears to offer a quick-fix salvo to NHS GGC’s parking headache.
However, the health board is reluctant to endorse an arrangement which would see staff paying for parking out of their own pocket. Instead, they offered to pay Ogilvie a flat fee in exchange for allowing permit-holding NHS employees to access the car park for free until the new hospital’s multi-storey car parks are completed.
The talks ended in stalemate and the health board applied for planning permission to construct its own, temporary 500 space car park at Linthouse Road.
A spokeswoman for the Royal College of Nursing Scotland urged all sides to break the deadlock.
‘‘ The continued use of this land as a car park does not breach the planning permission for the site
ARTIST Kim Redpath is celebrating his 90th birthday with a new exhibition of his work.
The artist, the nephew of legendary Scottish artist Anne Redpath, will showcase his paintings with a solo exhibition at the Corn Exchange, Biggar, from March 28 to May 9.
Redpath was an art teacher for 35 years before turning to painting full-time when he retired. He has works on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
He cites his aunt, who was best known for her still life paintings until her death in 1965, as a major influence on his work.