Chippenham Hospital parking plans take step forward

At a meeting on Thursday, September 25, Chippenham Town councillors welcomed a proposal to upgrade the current facilities at the community hospital on Rowden Hill.

NHS Property Services has applied to Wiltshire Council to create a new car park following concerns about the current shortage of spaces at the site.

This would mean another 22 spaces, including two electric vehicle charging bays, two accessible bays, and five parent and child bays.

The application also intends to demolish and replace the medical gas storage facility and add a new breast screening service housed by a mobile unit.

While Wiltshire Council is responsible for giving these plans the green light, Chippenham Town Council has offered no objection to the scheme.

Chippenham Community Hospital(Image: Newsquest)

Cllr David Poole said: “This is a win, win, win situation that we’re providing more medical care, providing more parking spaces, and obviously provision of electric charging points.”

Cllr John Scragg added: “The investment in extra facilities at the community hospital is very welcome and I think it’s the right course to say no objection.”

The town council did raise some concerns about a lack of provision for cyclists in the proposal and “strongly recommended” that a cycle parking facility is added to the plans.

Cllr Nick Murry said: “It’s always difficult when there’s something fundamentally wrong but there’s a lot of good in an application.

“It would be crazy not to include active travel improvements that allow people to cycle to a place like that, particularly when parking is short on site.”

The NHS has warned that the current parking situation has been creating safety and operational issues for the hospital.

A design and access statement said: “The site has limited parking facilities resulting in frequent NHS operational issues, with patients either being late or missing appointments due to the lack of on-site parking.

“There have also been health and safety concerns with vehicles parking beyond the designated bays.

“This creates a narrow entrance close to the maternity unit, making it difficult to navigate, particularly for large and emergency vehicles.

“It has also been noted that HCRG Care Group aims to move additional clinics on site, but is operationally restricted due to the existing parking limitations.”