East West Rail: Needs of Bedford Hospital patients, visitors and staff should be a top priority says trust

Borough councillor Nicola Gribble said on Wednesday (January 15) that the building of a hospital car park as part of the East West Rail project “will cause great chaos”.

Part of the proposed plans is to construct a new railway station on land Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust leases from Network Rail.

This is currently being used for the Britannia Road patient and staff car park.

A spokesperson for the trust told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “While we support initiatives that improve public transport access and connectivity for our communities, it is essential that the needs of our patients, visitors, and staff remain a top priority.

“We are aware of the significant challenges associated with these plans and have two key concerns, the loss of car parking spaces and the disruption during construction.

“It is vital that EWR develops its proposals with full regard to ensure that the operations of the hospital are not affected and, as a key stakeholder, we will raise any concerns through the statutory consultation process.”

The trust said the car park is an “essential facility” and it is “absolutely essential” that the 887 spaces or at least the “vast majority” are replicated by the construction of a multi-storey car park on the part of the Britannia Road site which is owned by the trust.

“EWR has agreed to present options for how this car park would be constructed and funded as there is currently no capital available for this to be funded by the NHS,” the spokesperson said.

“And the trust is not able to enter into new lease or capital agreements without funding and approval by NHSE.

“The trust is currently awaiting the details of these options from EWR.

“We have not yet seen the detailed plans for how the construction activities would be managed and the proposed mitigation of any disruption.

“We will ensure that once we have sight of these plans we will be feeding back any concerns we have to EWR and the council.

“We will be ensuring that, as a key stakeholder, we raise any concerns through the consultation process,” they said.

In response to the claims made by councillor Gribble, an EWR spokesperson told the LDRS that there are “no expectations” for the hospital to provide any capital funding for the multi-storey car park.

“Commercial conversations regarding this remain active and ongoing but the exact details on this provision are still to be confirmed,” they said

“We fully understand the need to minimise potential disruption to car parking for hospital users during the construction process and are reviewing mitigation measures to help identify the best solution.

“Further details will be provided in our statutory consultation.”