PROPOSALS have been submitted for a new staff car park serving one of the region’s major hospitals.

Plans were registered with Denbighshire County Council on July 13 for 184 'long stay' parking spaces for Glan Clwyd Hospital staff.

It will be situated on land near the Costa Coffee drive-thru and SPAR convenience store off Rhuddlan Road, Bodelwyddan – although the agent has labelled it as land off Abergele Road in its supporting letter to planners.

Parking on the main hospital site is notoriously tight and the move should guarantee those staff with parking permits a space.

Car park lighting will be installed and trees planted within the end bays of the facility.

JMS Planning and Developments Ltd, which is acting as agent for applicant Tickety Boo Developments Ltd, said a new vehicle access to the car park is proposed from Rhuddlan Road.

A separate pedestrian access is also proposed from Rhuddlan Road to enable hospital staff and visitors to safely access and leave the site.

The works will require a gas governor, which regulates flows of gas, to be moved and re-sited.

According to the application form, the land is owned by Wales and West Utilities Ltd.

BCUHB has been asked what type of agreement it has entered into - to use it as a staff car park – and whether it was with Tickety Boo Developments Ltd or landowners Wales and West Utilities Ltd.

Darren Millar, MS for Clwyd West, said: "While I am delighted that the Health Board has recognised the need to create extra parking spaces for those working at Glan Clwyd Hospital, I am concerned about access to this particular site with it being so close to a busy junction on the A55.

“I expect that a car park at this location will cause significant congestion at this junction during peak periods and this will be a major inconvenience for local residents, staff, patients, and emergency vehicles wanting to access the hospital site.”

A Transport Technical Note into the proposed car park, produced by DW Transportation Limited for Ticketyboo Developments Ltd, stated: "There are six existing car parks on the hospital site. However, as with many hospitals across the country car parking is under pressure as demand often meets or exceeds provision.

"The proposed car park would not be a generator of new trips. The trips generated would be transferred from the hospital where there are existing parking pressures."

David Williams, the design out crime officer for North Wales Police, has asked BCUHB to include the proposed car park in their extant CCTV coverage.

A decision on the scheme will be taken at a future Denbighshire Council planning committee.