Access plans for new Jersey hospital 'lacking in detail'

Access plans for Jersey's new hospital have been described as "lacking in detail" by a scrutiny panel.

A special States Assembly vote on the use of Westmount Road to access the site at Overdale has been scheduled to start on Monday.

Assembly members approved expanding the existing Overlade hospital in November.

The panel's chair, Senator Kristina Moore, said time had been "put ahead of good governance and sound decision making" by the government.

The panel said it intends to ask for a delay to approving Westmount Road until the government releases a preliminary design of the route and it is approved by the assembly before work begins.

An earlier report by Ms Moore's panel concluded the selection process of for the site had been "procedurally flawed".

She argued the process leading to the decision to use Westmount Road as the access route represented a "continuing pattern of behaviour" in the hospital project, echoing the lack of detail in the site selection process.

Ms Moore said: "We understand the need to deliver a hospital for Jersey, but we are very concerned that a commitment to spend almost £40m of public money is being forced upon States members without revealing the impact that the access road will have upon the local residents, the landscape, environment, traffic or sustainable transport plans."

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