Overdale is top choice in hospital site poll

Thursday 28 February 2019

As the debate over where to build the new hospital reopens, islanders have strongly signalled their support for Overdale in a poll by Express.

In response to the question, “where do YOU think the new hospital should go?” more than 1,500 members of the public have cast their vote and the results are in…

Express's poll asking readers where they want to see the new hospital built saw one in three respondents choosing Overdale as their preferred site out of five possible locations.

Pictured: Constable Simon Crowcroft brought an amendment which took St. Helier's parks off the table for the building of the new hospital.

As yet, the only sites which have been officially ruled out by this States Assembly are St. Helier's parks including People's Park, Lower Park, Victoria Park, Westmount Gardens and Parade Gardens after an amendment brought by Constable Simon Crowcroft narrowly won the support of States Members.

This comes after Express exclusively revealed at the beginning of this year that Constable Chris Taylor was leading the charge for Overdale.

Although building at Overdale was initially rejected for the new hospital due to concerns over accessibility for patients and emergency vehicles arising out of its hilltop location, it now appears that political and public support is growing for this site. 

Constable Taylor has previously suggested to Express that a dedicated access point could be constructed, linking the site directly to the inner road. 

Video: Constable Chris Taylor has led the charge for the Overdale site which is, in his view, the best location for the new hospital.

Tailing the runaway winner in the Express poll is the Waterfront at 311 votes and just 27 votes behind in third place is the St. Saviour’s Hospital site with 284 choosing it as their preference.

The Gloucester Street site – which has just been rejected as a ‘preferred’ site by a recent States’ vote – trails behind in fourth place with just over 15% of the total vote, coming in ahead of the least popular site, Warwick Farm at just 167 votes.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Senator John Le Fondré is engaging with States Members and looking to consult with Hospital staff to begin the site selection process afresh. The first of the meetings with Members is due to take place next week on 4 March. 

Pictured: The results of the Express hospital poll are in, with readers voting for Overdale as their preferred site.

The Chief Minister said: “It was right that the States Assembly should debate this important matter… We are now discussing how we can develop a new process for assessing possible sites that involves consultation with hospital staff and islanders. 

“We are also looking for ways to speed up the site selection, planning, procurement and construction process, by running some of this work in parallel rather than completing each piece of work before moving onto the next. This would bring the estimated completion date forward, while still following proper processes. We want to assess alternative sites and reach a final decision as soon as possible.”

In terms of the next steps on the redevelopment, the Chief Minister has outlined the following process: 

• appraising a final list of potential sites after consultation with States Members, hospital staff and members of the public;
• ensure that a future Planning application is “in the public interest” to reduce the chance of it being refused further down the line;
• “invest sufficiently in the current hospital to ensure that it continues to function safely and effectively” whilst the new health provision is being built;
• “review… and publish an indicative timeline for site selection”;
• “publish an explanation and outline of costs” whereby the Treasury Minister can bring a proposition to secure funding for the project.