90 new parking spaces at a cost of £0.5m approved for Coleraine’s Causeway Hospital
Additional car parking space at Causeway Hospital, in Coleraine, has been approved by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust board at a cost of £560,000.
A business case was agreed at a meeting of the Trust board at Antrim Hospital, on Thursday (June 26).
The proposal will see an additional 90 spaces at the Causeway Hospital site. Currently, there are 843 spaces but the Trust says the car park is “often at full capacity, leading to congestion and delays for patients, visitors and staff”.
Paddy Graffin, the Trust’s director of infrastructure, said: “We know there is a pressing need for additional car parking spaces at Causeway, particularly as we look towards bringing additional services on-site with the opening of the new MRI unit later this year.
“Also within our ‘Vision for Causeway’, we have stated our ambition for the hospital to become an elective hub, so there is the potential for greater footfall over time, and we want to be prepared for that.”
In response to a query from an independent member at the meeting, Mr Graffin said although there are public transport links to the hospital, the location of Causeway and Antrim Hospitals means the car is still the “main mode of transport” to the hospitals.
He also indicated there is potential for “additional activity to be generated” at Causeway Hospital if a proposal for general surgery in the Northern Trust area to take place at the site is approved by Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, with emergency surgery to be carried out at Antrim Hospital.
Trust chief executive Jennifer Welsh told board members she has formally written to the Permanent Secretary to advise the Trust board has approved the recommendation on the future of general surgery in the Northern Trust and is awaiting the minister’s decision.
The Trust says it will now submit a planning application to Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council for the new car parking spaces and subject to approval, work is expected to commence in 2026.
Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter