Doncaster MP wants multi-storey car park built at DRI after residents rejected previous plan

Don Valley Conservative MP Nick Fletcher is pushing for the multi-storey to be built at the hospital on Armthorpe Road to ease parking issues which have become an ongoing issue at the site in recent years.

A previous scheme was thrown out after nearby residents rejected the idea while last year, chiefs at Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust said building such a towering building in a residential area would be “tricky.”

Appealing to constituents, Mr Fletcher said: “Do you agree with me that we need more car parking at the DRI?

"I want to see a new multi-storey car park on the hospital grounds sooner than later. Do I have your support?

“At my last meeting with the Chief Executive Richard Parker at the DRI, I raised yet again the issue of car parking. The park and ride by the Racecourse helps reduce the parking problem. We do however need more parking.

“We all know how difficult it is to find a space to park. This is especially harder for those of us with mobility issues. It has of course got worse since the closure of the drive through phlebotomy service at the EcoPower.

“Richard tells me that the DRI also want to have more parking available. He says we could have a new multi-storey car park. He has identified a site for it. That would be where the old ambulance station was in the grounds of the hospital. It has now been demolished so it’s “shovel ready” so to speak.

“This is not a new idea. Previously when it was suggested, local residents complained and it did not go through.

Do you agree with me that this multi-storey car park should be built? Let me know what you think.”

The hospital has 900 spaces to serve around 3,000 members of staff and between 1,000 to 3,000 patients daily.

Last year, a hospital spokesman said: “The hospital was built in 1930 with the demands of that decade’s activity in mind - nearly 100 years later we are using the same front print.

“We don’t have the space on site to create more car parking areas. We are land locked and surrounded by residential areas.

“As we are within a residential area, creating a multistorey would be very tricky - given the demand it would have to be as tall as the East Ward block and even then it probably wouldn’t offer every visitor a car parking space.

"The space is an issue, planning permission difficult and budget even trickier. Unfortunately it’s a non-starter.”

There are a number of spaces within the hospital grounds, as well as parking spaces along Armthorpe Road and Thorne Road.

The spokesman added: “We understand that car park capacity at Doncaster Royal Infirmary isn't perfect, and as such we operate a Park and Ride facility just off Leger Way, with our partners at Doncaster Racecourse.

“Here there are always ample spaces, and a shuttle which runs 5.50am to 10pm Monday to Friday.”