More parking in pipeline for hospital

By Gareth McKeown
FOLLOWING concerns about car parking problems at the new Enniskillen acute hospital it has been announced that 240 extra car parking places will soon be provided.
The Western Health and Social Care Trust (Western Trust) will increase car parking spaces after a review of the parking situation at the site was held on Thursday.
At the meeting , the Trust Board considered car parking arrangements at the new hospital. A review of car parking was undertaken, given the demand for parking spaces at the hospital since it opened on June 21 2012.  The board considered in detail the outcome of the review and have made a number of decisions.
Firstly they are to immediately remodel the existing parking provision to provide 90 additional spaces.  These 90 spaces will come into effect in September 2012. The plans also include a further 150 spaces on the site to cope with the demand.
They have also decided to implement the South West Acute Hospital Travel Plan. This will encourage car sharing, the use of public transport and various environmentally friendly initiatives, such as ‘walk to work’ and ‘cycle to work’.
The decision has been made to defer the relocation of the remaining community based staff from community facilities to the new hospital site until the car park spaces are constructed and the decision on charges for the 187 spaces at the two tier car park has also been held until the construction of the additional 150 spaces. Charging on the 49 spaces adjacent to the Emergency department will proceed as planned in September.