Victory pub to be demolished to make way for more parking at Leicester Royal Infirmary
An empty pub is being demolished to make way for more hospital parking.
Bosses at Leicester Royal Infirmary are planning to knock down the former Victory pub, in Aylestone Road, in a bid to cut the queue of cars trying to get to the hospital.
-
The empty Victory Pub in Welford Road, Leicester
It comes as officials admit there are serious problems at peak times with cars queuing the length of Havelock Street and Jarrom Street as patients wait to park.
Health campaigners have welcomed the move but the Leicester Civic Society has criticised the plan.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Wednesday, May 22 2013
Nigel Bond, head of facilities at Leicester's hospitals, said: "We recognise parking is a major problem for patients and visitors to the infirmary.
"In the short-term, we are looking at demolishing the Victory pub, which we own, to make way for public parking.
"We are hoping this will be done by the end of March.
"We are also looking to see if we can move people out of the Knighton Street outpatients building and demolish that to create extra capacity.
"We are not sure of the exact numbers but it could give us about 50 more spaces which is quite a significant proportion on top of the 400 we have."
Mr Bond said longer term plans being considered include provision of a multi-storey car park.
This might be on the infirmary site or renting spaces if a multi-storey car park is built at Leicester Tigers' Welford Road ground.
Mr Bond said: "We hope a long-term solution is only a couple of years away.
"We are also looking at moving some outpatient services away from the infirmary site and closer to people's homes.
"In the meantime, we acknowledge it can be a real difficulty for patients getting into our car park and it can take an hour.
"Recently, it has been made more difficult than usual as a nearby private car park was closed for resurfacing and Mill Lane has been pedestrianised, which has led to more traffic near the infirmary.
"We are confident we will be able to resolve the problem."
Stuart Bailey, chairman of the Leicester Civic Society, said: "The Victory is not on the list of buildings of local interest, so there is nothing we can do to keep it.
"However, it is a big disappointment. This building, along with The Pride of Leicester pub on the opposite corner, which was demolished two years ago, formed an attractive visual site.
"For both to be replaced with an iron fence and parked cars is extremely unattractive."
However, health campaigner Zuffar Haq, from the Leicester Mercury Patients' Panel, welcomed the plan.
He said: "It is good news there will be more parking for patients.
"There is a particular problem about the lack of disabled spaces and I hope this will be addressed as soon as possible."
Comments
by rhino
Thursday, December 20 2012, 9:58PM
“NO ONE should have to pay for parking at any hospital, they have more on their minds than PARKING.”
by Bob491
Wednesday, December 19 2012, 9:12AM
“I can, but you can't Rajjan. You can't even read 491 correctly!”
by Rajjan
Wednesday, December 19 2012, 1:29AM
“@Bob 941
Can't you read simple English?”
by Bob491
Tuesday, December 18 2012, 10:16PM
“Quote: "Why the hill LM need to bring Zuffar Haq in this artical."
We need him to translate what you write into proper English, Rajjan!”
by Rajjan
Tuesday, December 18 2012, 10:02PM
“"However, health campaigner Zuffar Haq, from the Leicester Mercury Patients' Panel, welcomed the plan"
Why the hill LM need to bring Zuffar Haq in this artical.”
by daveb0360
Monday, December 17 2012, 8:13PM
“If there were more capable and confident GP's in practices, there wouldn't be the volumes of people using our hospitals which would go a long way towards reducing the demand for parking.
I feel there are more GP's around nowadays who don't have the confidence to correctly diagnose conditions so they are too often referred to hospitals to 'cover their backs'
In addition, it is so difficult for many to get a GP appointment, the only way they can get the reassurance and treatment they need, is to turn up to A&E without referral. After all, who wants to wait a week to find out if their 'cough' is in fact cancer, pleuracy or TB for example.
Or, it could be that there are deeply hidden financial benefits for them to make referrals.”
by sansue
Sunday, December 16 2012, 12:03PM
“For a period I had to attend the LRI on a regular basis. I used the car park over Aylestone Road from the LRI (next to the stadium) which is a 5 minutes walk from most wards, if that. Even during the day there were spaces, and you could pay for (or extend) parking automatically by mobile phone. I once made the mistake of driving back down Havelock St; never again. Car upon car of lazy people who MUST park within yards of where they need to be or their legs will fall off. Of course, some of these people will need to be so close, but most wont. There are plenty of places to park if you USE YOUR LEGS!”
by Graham_LE8
Sunday, December 16 2012, 9:41AM
“If we were another city (clue: that also begins with 'L', and is inside the M25), they'd have no problem digging up Nelson Mandela recce and buildng a large underground car park, to include a walkway beneath the Welford & Aylestone roads into the LRI - the park could be relaid over the top & could also include a helipad & proper access for the air ambulance.
I know we're broke, and I know the proper solution is improved public transport, but I bet if previously it had been put forward in a public referendum we had a choice of spending £60M on either: 1) investment as outlined above, that benefits all the city's inhabitants, or 2) a fancy theatre that doesn't bring in enough income to be self sufficient; I know which one I would have chosen...
Please note, I think the Curve is an excellent facility to have, I just question the priorities we give to the options taken regarding city development.”
by AnotherRobert
Sunday, December 16 2012, 7:45AM
“There are car parks all over the frickin' place. There are too many cars. What we need is a decent, reliable, reasonably priced public transport system so that more people can leave their cars at home.”
by johnboy313
Saturday, December 15 2012, 11:05PM
“Oh Rodder65, that car park is hideous.. that is not a good example”