First glimpse at £12 million plan to end parking misery at Southampton General Hospital

Hospital bosses want to build a huge new multi-storey car park that could provide space for almost 800 new cars.

They hope the plans, which went on show to the public at the hospital yesterday, will not only make getting in and out of the hospital easier but also ease parking pressure on surrounding residential streets.

Last year the Daily Echo revealed that the hospital raked in £3.5m from parking charges in 2013, with a third of that coming from staff.

Bosses at the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust have had to look at ways to allow the hospital to cope with the expected increase in demand over the next few years.

They unveiled a blueprint costing up to £12m for how parking could be overhauled over the next two years at Wednesday’s consultation event.

It includes altering the layout of the existing car park to create three entrances and four exits, and improve flow by replacing barriers with number plate recognition technology.

But the main part of the scheme is an £8m multi-storey car park for staff off Laundry Road on the south west of the hospital site.

The proposed building would be up to six storeys high and have spaces for 778 cars, hugely increasing the hospital’s parking capacity.

Residents living near the hospital have complained that patients and staff park in their streets, while they are now also forced to pay to park outside their homes after the city council brought in parking permits for some streets.

Reaction to the plans has been split, with some complaining it will be an eyesore while others hoping it stops hospital users parking in their roads.

One Coxford Road resident, who asked not to be named, said: “Sometimes I come home from work and I can’t find a single space down here so if it stops that then it’s a good thing.”

Olive Fuller, 83, of Coxford Road, added: “Everybody needs to park somewhere and I know hospital staff park along our road which blocks others from using it.”

The material for the exterior of the building has not yet been decided and hospital chiefs say the car park’s design means it will only be two storeys high at its nearest point to neighbouring homes.

The trust’s development projects director, Nick Johnson, said: “We have been exploring ways in which we can improve parking and access for our patients, visitors, staff and neighbours and wanted to share our ideas and provide an opportunity for people to comment on our proposals.

“We have been working hard to develop plans for parking and sustainable transport improvements that will enable us to continue providing world-class medical facilities while minimising the impact that providing these services has on the local community, specifically in terms of accessibility and parking.

“As we know that we don’t have enough car parking on site to meet demand a new multi-storey car-park would provide additional capacity on site and reconfiguration of existing parking alongside the introduction of technology such as real-time information to identify available spaces will help improve accessibility and movement around the site and local streets.”

If the trust’s plans get the green light work could begin in September and be completed by December next year.