Storm Eunice: Decision on Cambridge Children’s Hospital plans delayed
A key decision on plans for the new Cambridge Children’s Hospital has been delayed due to Storm Eunice.
Councillors from Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council were due to discuss the plans at a joint development control committee on Friday (February 18).
However, the meeting was cancelled after the Met Office placed much of the South East of the UK under a red weather warning for wind.
Red weather warnings are not often issued and mean that there is danger to life.
Outline plans for the children’s hospital were approved in 2009, and two applications providing more detailed proposals relating to the children's hospital were due to be presented to councillors at the meeting today.
The first was a reserved matters application for more detailed plans relating to the hospital, and the second was a full application for the construction of an underground service corridor, linking the proposed hospital to the existing underground service network.
The new children’s hospital is proposed to be built within the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, next to Addenbrooke’s Hospital.
The hospital plans are being developed in a partnership between Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, and the University of Cambridge.
The aim of the children’s hospital is to provide a new base for existing children’s mental and physical health services in the Cambridge area to be relocated to be provided under one roof.
In the planning statement, submitted as part of the reserved matter application, it said: “[The hospital] will provide individual care that goes beyond treating the illness, with a focus on normalising life, connecting with local communities, and providers and making the most of digital and medical technology.
“The proposed building and landscaping would provide for a high quality and sustainable development.
“The scale and massing, and structural landscaping, is in accordance with the outline parameter plans.
“The current proposal is targeting high sustainability aspirations, both in terms of construction and operation.”
Both the reserved matters application and the full application for the service corridor were recommended for approval by council planning officers.
A council officer's report said in relation to the landscaping proposals, that the plans “contribute to providing a positive environment for patients, visitors and staff”.
It is not yet known when the date for the decision will be set.
Read more:
Storm Eunice: Red ‘danger to life’ warning issued by Met Office for Cambridgeshire
