By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
Plans for a new 1,500-space car park at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham have taken a step forward – but it will cost £8 million more than originally thought.
The seven-storey building is needed to free up space on existing car parks for the planned redevelopment of the hospital.
The 1,512 space car park will mean an overall increase of 362 spaces and be built at the back of the current car park three and on the site of car park six.
Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2027, which is three years behind the original plans.
The cost of the project has increased to £54.2m, from £46.2m, as a result of inflation arising from the delayed construction timeline.
The business case for the project was discussed and approved at the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) board meeting on March 14.
Board papers state the construction costs of the car park will be £22,400 per space.
The long-awaited redevelopment of the hospital- called ‘Tomorrow’s NUH’ – has been described as a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to reshape hospital services to address health inequalities and spark economic regeneration.
The plans could see maternity and neonatal services being merged at the Queen’s Medical Centre in a new women’s and children’s hospital.
Most planned operations, such as hip replacements, would be delivered at Nottingham City Hospital, with some emergency care moving to the QMC.
NUH has a target of being “construction ready” for the main works from 2028.
To do this, development zones on a number of existing car parks need to be freed up.
The original business case was put together in 2021 but at the time, the funding for Tomorrow’s NUH had not been confirmed. In May 2023 the Government then said the project would be delayed beyond the original 2030 target.
A further 1,260 parking spaces are required by 2031 to meet increased demand at QMC.
Alison Wynne, Director of Strategy and Transformation, said during the meeting the planning progress for the car park was a “big step”.
She said: “We originally completed the outline business case back in 2021 but there has been a waiting period whilst the national programme has their allocation confirmed and that happened last year.
“We have been through a refresh of the business case.
“The reason is to get off the development zone so we can start the building.
“It is part of our plans for tomorrow’s NUH. We have had a letter of support from the City Council which is an important part of the discussion.
“The first year of operation would be 2028/29.”
Raising concern about additional fees during the meeting, Mark Chivers, non-executive director, said: “1,500 spaces at £22,000 per space is £33m.
“The total is £54m, even with VAT and fees, there’s got to be a discrepancy between £33m and £54m.”
Ms Wynne said: “It is fees and VAT and the additional costs are things like site clearance and road access. So that makes up the difference.”
Mr Chivers said: “40 per cent additional costs is very high.”
The plans will now be passed to regional NHS England and the New Hospitals Programme.
