BRI car park

BRI Marlborough new multi-storey car park

University Hospitals Bristol (the Trust) has made an outline planning application for permission to demolish its 180-place multi-storey car park above Marlborough Street and to replace it with an 820-place car park. The image shows how the car park would look from the corner of Dighton Street and Montague Hill.

The Society supports the considerable body of opinion that opposes the scheme. The Trust undertook an extensive exercise among patients to show a demand for more parking. The outcome is no surprise, we would all like to be able to travel by private car and park at our destination if we require medical treatment. The Society agrees with the report filed by the City Transport Management which strongly opposes a large new car park, which would be contrary to all national and local policies to reduce traffic in city centres. A large new car park must increase congestion. The report says that the Trust overstates the advantages that the new car park would deliver. The local road system is already above capacity and traffic is at a standstill for substantial periods every day. The air in the Marlborough Street corridor is unpleasant for the thousands of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicle drivers. The scheme would demolish the estate of 36 flats in Eugene Street. These three purpose-built blocks of flats are a scarce and valuable affordable key-worker city centre homes. This would be a major planning loss. The Trust makes no provision to mitigate the loss of this socially critical accommodation.

The Trust has other options to improve patient access by car. The Marlborough Street car park is used for staff. If staff parking were to be reallocated to contract parking in other city centre car parks the Trust could offer parking to disabled patients. There is difficult patient access to many city centre hospitals. Other hospitals have developed bespoke, dedicated, hospital access, park and ride schemes.

John Frenkel
johnfrenkel5@gmail.com

Full Civic Society response [PDF]

 

1 thought on “BRI car park”

  1. Sorry, are you suggesting that staff (e.g. nurses and doctors) should have to walk to private car parks dotted around the city and to pay even more than they already do for the dubious privilege of doing their shitty jobs? So you want the young female nurses to be walking through the city in the dark to all the miserable little parking holes when their shifts are finished after 8pm?
    Happy to hear opposition to the plans but at least come up with a less half-baked alternative proposal.

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