AN application for the Island’s new £710 million General Hospital at Overdale is due to be discussed by the Planning Committee today.
Planning officers have recommended that the application be approved – with a series of conditions attached. However, the group of politicians who make up the committee will ultimately have the final decision in what is due to be a mammoth all-day session.
The application includes parking, external plant and landscaping, as well as the demolition of existing buildings and structures, and alterations to access including a new pedestrian and cycle route.
The new programme, estimated to cost £710m, includes an acute hospital at Overdale and the development of an ambulatory facility and health village.
In the report presented to the committee, senior planning officer Chris Jones states: “The scheme has been carefully assessed against all relevant policy criteria and found to be in compliance with both policy CI3 [covering community infrastructure] and the Bridging Island Plan as a whole, given the exceptional circumstances that the Island finds itself in and the need to provide a significant, Islandwide public benefit.”
Mr Jones highlighted comments made by an independent inspector during a 2022 public inquiry into a previous application for Overdale that was halted by politicians following the general election later that year, describing the site as “an appropriate sustainable location”.
Environment Minister Steve Luce ruled in November last year that there would not be a public inquiry into the current application.
Benefits listed in the report include an increase in biodiversity and an active travel route through woodland that would provide a “significant public benefit”.
In conclusion, ahead of a list of 33 conditions recommended for inclusion in a planning obligation agreement, Mr Jones states: The design and appearance of the new hospital has been the subject of significant discussion and scrutiny in order to arrive at the scheme now under consideration.
“This is considered to be the best option for the site and the land that is available and will provide a development of high quality to the benefit of the Island as a whole.”
The fresh application attracted 15 letters from members of the public, a significantly lower volume of correspondence than previous attempts dating back more than a decade.
Pressure group Friends of Our New Hospital wrote to the Planning Department, stating that it was “in the main in favour of the application as a more viable and versatile solution for the Island’s healthcare and more in line with planning guidelines”.
However, the group also expressed concern over a lack of detail in some areas and what it considered to be a greater focus on the external appearance of the building rather than interior details that would improve the patient experience.
At the time the current application was submitted last September, Health Minister Tom Binet said he was “cautiously hopeful” that the new complex would open by the end of 2028 and added that he believed there was a strong public view in favour of proceeding with the project after years of delay.
The application was due to be discussed between 9.35pm and 4.30pm today at the Planning Committee meeting taking place in the government offices at Union Street.
Islanders have lived through several iterations of new-hospital plans in recent years, with proposals being rejected, as well as scrapped or modified by successive governments.
The latest iteration, the “New Healthcare Facilities Programme”, seeks to build in several locations – including construction of the acute facility at Overdale as well as a health village in St Saviour.
The government hopes this will bring an end to the decade-long quest for a new hospital.
It was reported last year that more than £130 million had been spent across multiple projects spanning different governments.
