AN IMPENDING application to build a temporary ward on a car park at Basingstoke hospital has been slammed after parking along the main road to it reached “dangerous levels”.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHNFT) plans to build a small unit to help cope with additional pressures it experiences at Basingstoke hospital across the winter months on a 14-space car park, which is designated as parking for visitors of private patients staying in the Candover Clinic.

The plans have been met with fury among residents and local councillors after numerous cars were pictured parked up on the pavement of The Avenue in Rooksdown, one of the main roads used to access the hospital.

Rooksdown borough councillor Simon Bound said he planned to object to the plans, insisting the surrounding area was already “cramped.”

“There has been a constant discussion between myself and the hospital about this application,” Cllr Bound said.

“We have always been very supportive of the NHS but by getting rid of this car park it will potentially cause more problems than it is resolving.

“It is already creating very dangerous situations as people are being forced to walk along the road as opposed to using the pavements.”

Mary Edwards, chief executive at HHNFT, said the changes would not result in as “loss of spaces for the majority of its visitors to the hospital”.

She said: “We are sorry people are parking on the roads near the hospital.

“We want to be good neighbours to the people of Rooksdown and appreciate the difficulty that it causes when there are cars parked on the road.

“The hospital does not own these roads so we have no rights to patrol and control parking there, as we do on our own site. We are talking to the road owners, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), and have been successful in getting them to agree to put measures in place to help keep the road clear of parked cars.”

The Avenue is owned by HCA and was rebuilt by Taylor Wimpey, with the final phase of work completed in September this year.

Subject to a final inspection, HCC will formally adopt the road, when it will become part of the public highway system and therefore eligible to have restrictions placed on it – a process Cllr Bound fears could take up to seven years.

Rooksdown resident Colin Mason, 50, believes people “should be ashamed” of the way they are parking on the road.

Mr Mason said: “Pedestrians should not be forced to walk in the road, the footpath is now completely blocked.

“Have they no consideration to the patients in wheelchairs who now have in the road? They should be ashamed.”

The Gazette contacted HCA who explained it would visit the site to put some restrictions on the pavements.

A spokesman for the HCA said: “This road is private and parking on the road or pavements is unauthorised and inconsiderate.

“We will be placing ‘No Parking’ traffic cones along the length of the road on both sides to reinforce this rule and ensure the safety and convenience of pedestrians and residents.”

HCC did not comment.

What do you think? Email your views to newsdesk@basingstokegazette.co.uk.