Trowbridge Town Council has objected to the latest proposed plans for a new £20 million integrated health hub following a disagreement over parking spaces.
After previously supporting plans for the long-awaited NHS centre, the council has now performed a U-turn.
NHS Property Services wants to build the new hub at Hammersmith Fields in front of the existing Trowbridge Health Centre and next to the Trowbridge Community Hospital.
The 1,768 square metre centre would have up to 30 consulting rooms, to be built in two phases, to provide additional primary care capacity and enhanced primary care services alongside acute outreach and community services.
The application for the approval of reserved matters follows a previous outline planning application and covers its appearance, landscaping, layout and scale.
READ MORE: State of the art £20m Wiltshire health centre planned for Trowbridge
The number of parking spaces has been reduced from 126 to 109 in the latest application, including 11 accessible parking bays, six with electrical vehicle charging points.
At a town development meeting on Tuesday, August 13 the council objected unanimously to the latest plans, saying the proposals fail to address the requirement for staff parking.
Cllr Edward Kirk, the ward member for Adcroft, who has 'called in' the latest plans, said: "They have reneged on the deal."
He had agreed three years ago not to 'call in' the application, subject to sufficient parking being provided for both staff and visitors.
He fears that if sufficient parking is not provided on the site, both visitors and staff will park on nearby estate roads, upsetting residents.
The council said: “All parking is proposed to be 90-minute maximum. This will exacerbate an already wholly unacceptable situation in the area.
“The applicant in this case claimed that they would provide adequate staff parking at the original exhibition and in subsequent correspondence.
“Appropriate staff parking should be provided and if necessary, discounts for active travel and public transport use.”
A spokesperson for NHS Property Services said the reduced sparking spaces are due to the reduction of the building's scale.
SEE ALSO: New £20m Trowbridge 'health hub' moves a step closer
They said: "The intention remains to have a proportionate number of spaces on site to the earlier scheme and, as part of the planning permission process we will be submitting a car parking management plan to set out how spaces will be managed on site.
“As per the previous application, the intention is to manage the car park using ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) to ensure that both our NHS colleagues and patients who need to park on site are able to do so.”
In its transport statement, NHS Property Services says there are bus stops within 200 metres of the site, and Trowbridge Railway Station is a 15-minute walk away.
It says: “The surrounding sustainable travel network is comprehensive and extensive, providing significant opportunities for trips to be made by modes other than the private car.”
Plans also include 20 cycle stands for visitors and ten stands for staff, as well as three spaces for motorcycles.
Staff would be issued with parking permits, allowing them to park in the spaces while they are working.
Consultation on the plans ends on Thursday, August 29. Wiltshire Council is expected to decide by Monday, October 21.
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