Plan for 300 more parking spaces for Wexham Park visitors

Hospital chiefs say the parking crisis could soon be over at Wexham Park in Slough with a plan to create 300 spaces within the next three months.

Since the closure of an independent off-site car park in a nearby field in October, parking has been a premium at Wexham Park Hospital causing some patients to miss appointments.

Plans were revealed at a council of governors meeting for Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at the Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre in Slough last night.

Paul Rowley, director of estates and non-clinical services, said pressure from increasing patient numbers have made parking 'worse' than it had ever been before. He said: "Parking is not acceptable and we will do something about it.

"The whole situation is a whole darn site worse now."

Mr Rowley said he had agreed in principle with a car park owner 0.4 miles from the site to use 200 spaces and was in discussions with him and Slough Borough Council (SBC) about it.

He said: "If it happens that will be fantastic news and I am very confident we are on the road to making it happen. We hope to have some kind of shuttle bus as well."

Mr Rowley added he hopes it would be ready for patients and visitors to use within the next three months, while it would be on a two-year agreement. He also said the trust has submitted a planning application to SBC planners to create 66 more spots at the hospital's car park. And a further 30 spaces would be created by re-aligning car parking to bring the total extra spaces to about 300, which he said would have a 'significant impact' on the site.

Mr Rowley said the trust has had a positive and negative response from visitors about the hiring of two car park assistants who are helping motorists park.

He also added a new staff showers and a changing facility was now up and running at the Wexham site.

See the full story in tomorrow's Slough Express.