Fears over 'dangerous' parking at Pinderfields Hospital

Motorists parking on the main road outside Pinderfields Hospital are putting people in danger and obstructing passing traffic, it has been claimed.
Pinderfields HospitalPinderfields Hospital
Pinderfields Hospital

Drivers have been leaving their cars along Aberford Road in recent weeks, making it difficult for buses and ambulances to pass.

Staff who have not been given parking permits for the hospital car park are among those stopping on the main road.

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Hospital bosses say the situation is under review. Planning permission has been granted for an extension to the car park, which it is hoped will ease the congestion.

But Wakefield Council wants to introduce parking restrictions on the road imminently, with either single or double yellow lines a possibility.

Wakefield East councillor Olivia Rowley said she'd been "inundated" with comments from residents about the problem.

Speaking at a full council meeting on Wednesday, she said: "This has only happened in the last six to eight weeks.

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"The hospital are not accommodating workers and I really think they are to blame for this issue.

"There was never a problem before and now we have to take action because everyone is so inconvenienced, and in danger in some instances.

"It's not good enough."

Council leader Peter Box backed a ban on parking on the road, but said he was concerned about the problem "moving along" to another street.

He also said that the local authority would write to the Mid Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust about the issue.

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He said: "We (the council) will be held responsible the first time an ambulance can't get through.

"You can't get two buses through when people are parked on the road. The other day when I went past people were parking on both sides. It's ludicrous.

"Let's make sure we sort this but we don't want to create a problem somewhere else."

At the end of June, around 100 more staff were working at Pinderfields than at the end of last year.

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Iain Brodie, general facilities manager at trust, said: "The trust has become aware of the recent and growing practice of cars parking on the busy Aberford Road outside the hospital.

"Whilst some of the vehicles may be hospital staff who have applied for parking permits, we continue to issue permits based on theaccess needs of our staff.

"This year the trust has issued 295 parking permits for staff at Pinderfields Hospital. Not all applications for permits are approved; an application for a parking permit is based on the access needs of the individual, which includes travel distance, shift working patterns and other clinical commitments.

"Parking capacity remains under review at the hospital and the trust has recently obtained planning permission to increase parking capacity on the Pinderfields site.”