Council chiefs have blocked plans to build an “essential” new road for emergency vehicles at a specialist Perthshire hospital.
NHS Tayside said the new route at Perth’s Murray Royal Hospital was needed to allow direct access for mercy crews in the event of a fire or other similar incident.
At the moment, there is only one road to the mental health facility which is accessible for fire service water tenders.
Health bosses have admitted this route is far from ideal, with a narrow gateway and tight mini-roundabout. The road passes the NHS-owned Picullen House, which was declared surplus to requirements in 2013 and could be sold off.
In its submission to Perth and Kinross Council, an NHS spokeswoman said: “In summary, (the current road) is below the standard of access NHS Tayside desire for its properties to ensure a high quality and safe environment for patients.”
But the local authority has rejected NHS Tayside’s application for consent, because the scheme involves demolishing part of the listed hospital’s boundary wall.
“The proposed alterations… would be detrimental to the character and interest of the listed building,” a council spokesman said.
Now NHS Tayside is battling to reverse the decision with an appeal to the Scottish Government.
Representing the local healthcare provider, agent Fiona Clandillon of Ryden said that the proposal will not harm the special interest of the boundary wall.
She said the proposals are “essential to delivering significant benefits” to the operation of the hospital.
Explaining the state of the current road, Mark Anderson, head of property at NHS Tayside, said: “The access gates restrict the ease with which the site can be accessed given their narrow configuration.
“The narrow width of the road then compounds this. This results in bottlenecks at times with conflicts arising between users who are trying to access and leave the site simultaneously. In some instances, cars and emergency vehicles have to stop on the junction at the Lodge Access to allow vehicles to exist, which also gives rise to safety concerns.
“For NHS Tayside, this is a cause for concern regarding potential unnecessary delays to emergency vehicles who are trying to gain access to or egress from the site on emergency calls and also for pedestrian safety for the public, staff and patients.”
He added: “The load capacity of this road is not suitable for heavy vehicles such as delivery trucks or 26 Tonne Emergency Response vehicles which are required to use this road. Emergency vehicles are increasing in weight. There is concern that the road cannot sustain these modern vehicles on an ongoing basis.”
The government’s planning and environmental appeals division is expected to rule on the case in November.
