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WQ.266/2023
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE BY DEPUTY L.J. FARNHAM OF ST. MARY, ST. OUEN AND ST. PETER QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 5th JUNE 2023
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 12th JUNE 2023
Question
“Will the Minister advise whether any environmental impact studies have been carried out in relation to the provision of multi-site health facilities across the Island compared to the single site solution at Overdale; if so, what were the outcomes of these studies; and if none have been undertaken, why not?”
Answer
Consideration of potential environmental impacts has been integral to the feasibility stage option selection process for the New Healthcare Facilities (NHF). The environmental feasibility report sets out a high- level overview of the currently known baseline and potential impacts during both construction and operation phases for the site options being considered for the NHF. The information used was based on baseline and assessment data that was collated for the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) prepared for the previous Future Hospital planning application in 2017, and the Our Hospital Project planning application in 2021. It should be noted that it is only due to the unique position of having relatively recent, previous environmental assessment work for both sites being considered under the current proposals, that it has been possible to provide the level of baseline data that is presented in the feasibility report. It is not usual or expected to have this level of detail at this early stage of project development.
Full impact assessments would not be proportionate or possible at this early stage of the project but will be conducted and reported on at RIBA Stage 3 during detailed design and submitted with the planning application(s). This will enable the environmental team to feedback assessment outcomes into the design as it progresses, such that environmental mitigation can be embedded into the design, reducing any adverse impacts as much as possible within design and clinical constraints, whilst also enhancing environmental benefits.
The brief for the feasibility stage was to consider potential environmental impacts relevant to each of the options (and therefore sites) such that a comparison between options could be made. Utilising more than one site is fundamentally likely to result in impacts that are geographically more widespread, but this does not automatically mean that they will be more significant; rather some impacts may be of lower magnitude (and lower significance) because of the smaller nature of each of the buildings and the dispersed staff and visitor travel patterns. As part of the Environmental Impact Assessment process, cumulative impacts (i.e. the in combination impacts from each of the sites) will be considered and reported at the appropriate stage.