\n In 2022, Oxford City Council debated a motion, brought by Mick Haines, who was councillor for Marston ward at the time, calling for work with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on a long-term solution, including consideration of a decked car park.\n<\/p>\n
\n The campaign was backed by a petition with almost 5,000 online signatures and a further 1,300 on paper.\n<\/p>\n
\n No multi-storey car park has since been approved or built at the Headington hospital.\n<\/p>\n
\n The issue remains prevalent as the hospital continues major redevelopment work, including an \u00a38 million Women\u2019s Centre improvement project affecting Car Park 2A during construction.\n<\/p>\n
\n The renewed calls come as plans for a massive car park at a \u00a3900 million innovation district have been validated.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Exeter-Oxford Innovation District (EXOq) is set to transform a 40-hectare site near Kidlington into a major research and computing hub.\n<\/p>\n
\n Developers of the Frieze Farm site also plan to build around 1,700 parking spaces, despite the area being promoted as a \u201cpredominantly car-free campus\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mick Haines campaigned for a new car park at the hospital (Image: Ed Nix)\n<\/p>\n
\n Councillor David Henwood said: \u201cIf you have an injury, if you are frail, or if you are carrying belongings for a hospital appointment, travelling by bus is not always realistic.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cFor some patients and families, parking is not simply a convenience. It can be the difference between being able to get to hospital and struggling to access the care or support they need\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe need to ask: what does the future hold for the JR? If hospital activity continues to grow, it is clear that pressure on parking could have a real impact on health in Oxford.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe frustrating thing is hearing active-travel groups call for a reduction in parking when that can make life harder for people who genuinely have no practical alternative to travelling by car.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe should promote walking, cycling and buses wherever they work, but we must not treat every car journey to hospital as optional.\n<\/p>\n
\n READ MORE: Turning down new supermarket would be ‘ludicrous’ say Oxfordshire residents<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n \n Speaking on the lack of a multi-storey car park, hospital volunteer Steve Fisher said: “The main issue with car parking at the John Radcliffe isn\u2019t the new parking rules, it’s the ridiculously limited number of parking spaces available.\n<\/p>\n \n “As a volunteer at the hospital I hear more complaints about parking, or lack of it, than anything else.\n<\/p>\n \n “I am led to believe that Oxford City Council\u00a0 apparently refused to grant planning permission for a small multi-storey car park on the site because of their anti-car, ‘green’ agenda and want people to use public transport instead; whilst acknowledging that there are very good public transport links from all directions.\n<\/p>\n \n \n “People coming to hospital are already stressed, without the added pressures of trying to find somewhere to park to make their appointment on time.\n<\/p>\n \n “With the imminent opening of a new\u00a0 Assessment Unit and more operating theatres, even more cars are going to be trying to find those elusive car parking spaces.\n<\/p>\n \n “Surely compassion for ill people and those with very restricted mobility should over-ride a Council’s anti-car stance and allow a small multi-storey to he built.”\n<\/p>\n \n In response to Steve Fishers comment Councillor Anna Railton said the city council has never refused permission for a multi-story car park at the John Radcliffe Hospital, and there\u2019s never been a formal application for one either.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n \n The proposals come amid a wider shift in Oxford towards reducing dependence on private cars.\n<\/p>\n \n Oxfordshire County Council<\/a>, which is responsible for the city\u2019s roads, is replacing its temporary congestion charge with six traffic<\/a> filters from 28 September, restricting vehicle movements on selected routes at certain times unless drivers qualify for permits.\n<\/p>\n \n She affirmed that both councils continue to work with the hospitals to help manage their parking and access to the hospital site, including new direct bus routes and a P&R offer for staff. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n Oxford University Hospitals declined to comment on the matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2022, Oxford City Council debated a motion, brought by Mick Haines, who was councillor for Marston ward…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-759818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}David Henwood has questioned if the lack of a car park will impact on health in Oxford (Image: Ed Nix)\n<\/p>\n
Work on the \u00a38 million investment in the Women’s Centre (Image: NHS)\n<\/p>\n
Councillor Anna Railton said the city council has never refused permission for a multi-story car park at the John Radcliffe Hospital (Image: Contributed)\n<\/p>\n