Less than 24 hours after Environment Minister John Young refused planning permission for the Gloucester Street site following a second unfavourable report from a planning inspector, Deputy Russell Labey tabled a proposition to ditch the plans and write off the estimated £38 million spent on the project.
Lodging the proposition, the backbencher warned that more time and money would be wasted if the ‘stubborn failure to accept’ that the site was unacceptable continued.
‘If ever there was a time for clarity in political direction to the Department for Infrastructure and the Department for Health and Social Services, this is it.
‘Worryingly, within hours of the Minister for the Environment delivering his response to the findings of the public inquiry, the Island was being told by those responsible for delivering the new hospital that Gloucester Street remained a live option.
‘This intransigence is unacceptable in the face of the inquiry findings, the complete loss of public confidence in Gloucester Street being an appropriate site, and the opposition bravely expressed by hospital consultants and other staff to the public inquiry,’ said Deputy Labey.
The minister rejected the plans after UK planning inspector Phillip Staddon, who carried out a review of the proposals, found that the hospital would be
too large for the restricted site and would lead to unreasonable harm to residential amenities and living conditions of nearby residents.
The decision came almost a year to the day after the initial application was rejected by the then-Environment Minister Steve Luce, who received the first critical report from Mr Staddon, who raised concerns about the size and scale of the proposed building.
Deputy Labey said: ‘Irrespective of planning issues, which will be manifest but different in character whichever site is chosen, for most people Gloucester Street is a compromise too far, and more time will be wasted by a stubborn failure to accept this as fact.
‘The Assembly can end this now, take the political decision that only it can take, and ensure that energy is concentrated on a better site that will deliver a better new hospital.’
The proposition is due to be debated on 12 February.
