RESIDENTS HAVE vowed to appeal a decision by the local council to grant planning permission to a €250 million 185-bed private hospital, citing concerns about traffic gridlock in their area.
Planning permission has been granted to the Beacon Medical Group to build a private hospital at Cork University Hospital (CUH), Wilton, Cork city, under the Government's co-location policy. The project was granted permission last Thursday despite 140 objections from residents. The majority of these, 98 per cent, related to traffic congestion, lighting, waste management and subsidence. Only three letters made reference to co-location.
The list of objectors included two Fianna Fáil TDs, Minister for Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin and Michael McGrath, who said they were objecting because local infrastructure would not be able to cope. Mr Martin said the project wasn't sustainable on the Wilton campus.
Residents and members of Laburnum Wilton Residents Association now plan to hold a public meeting this week to explore their options. Residents say they are worried about negative implications for traffic in the area and visual intrusion. They insist nobody wants "further gridlock" in an area which is already saturated with traffic.
Opponents to the project have also expressed concern about the scale and density of the five-storey building on an already over-crowded medical campus.
Meanwhile, angry residents have been joined in their campaign by Cork South-Central Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney who claims the project is being forced upon the people of the area.
"Certainly the concept of putting this new very large hospital in an overcrowded CUH site is something we are against. I simply find it difficult to see how the planners can justify granting planning permission. This decision will obviously be appealed now to An Bord Pleanála. Unfortunately, the way An Bord Pleanála is set up [it is the case that] often their remit to implement Government policy makes it very difficult for objectors to be successful; even when they have a genuine case like in this case."
The Beacon Medical Group was founded by cardio-thoracic surgeon Prof J Mark Redmond and businessmen Michael Cullen and Paddy Shovlin in 2002.
The group has repeatedly stated its commitment to working with local politicians and residents in Wilton/Bishopstown to implement measures to alleviate traffic concerns at the CUH campus. The group has also vowed to ensure that disruption during construction is minimised. Supporters of the private hospital say the "greater good" should win out over local concerns.
The Government says such private hospital schemes will help release public hospital beds occupied by private patients.
However, critics say they will simply exacerbate the two-tier Irish health system, with gleaming new facilities for private patients and decrepit services for public patients.
The Government hope to have co-location at eight hospitals. But the plan has sparked opposition from health groups.