Freckleton Street Multi-Storey Development
A brand-new multi- storey car park (MSCP) is to be developed at WWL's Freckleton Street site.
Background Of The Development
To alleviate the parking pressures experienced at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary (RAEI), WWL submitted an application for planning permission earlier in the Summer following public engagement sessions with the community. Feedback from residents and stakeholders on the design of the build, our plans and shared proposals was taken on board and planning permission was granted, and building is set to begin in January 2025.
How The Development Will Benefit Patients, Visitors and Staff
The new multi-storey car park, along with enhancements to other Trust car parks, will significantly improve overall car parking capacity at RAEI, providing 356 spaces within the MSCP for patients and visitors and 64 surface level car parking spaces for staff. The MSCP will also allow the Trust to improve blue badge parking at RAEI, with 21 additional blue badge patient and visitor spaces at the site, ensuring those with the greatest need are in the closest proximity to services where possible.
Further benefits also include improved flow into the site through the removal of barriers, leading to less queuing and congestion on Freckleton Street. As vehicles will spend less time circling the car park, as more spaces will be available, this will lead to less emissions in the area.
Mary Fleming, Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted that we can now begin work on this new development for our Trust. Car parking is an important part of our patient and visitor experience, and we recognise that struggling to park can be frustrating and worrying for our patients when they are attending our sites for a healthcare appointment. This initiative is part of a trust wide project, to provide a much more improved car parking solution for all. I would like to thank our community and residents who gave us some valuable feedback during the engagement period, and for their support during this period of improvement work. We are confident our staff, patients, visitors and local residents will be happy with the new build once completed.”
How Long Will The Work Take?
Work is expected to take approximately 12 months to complete an to reduce the impact of noise and disruption for local residents, WWL plans to maximise the use of offsite construction methods.
If you would like to find out more, please see the Frequently Asked Questions below.
When will you be submitting a planning application?
A planning application was submitted in Summer 2024 following the feedback and comments raised from engagement sessions with our local community and staff earlier in the year.
When do you plan to start works?
We are currently looking to start works in January 2025.
How long will construction work take?
The construction works are predicted to take approximately 12 months. To reduce the impact of noise and disruption for residents we plan to maximise the use of offsite construction methods.
Why is the car park smaller than the previous approval?
The newly proposed MSCP is more financially sustainable when compared with the previously approved version, enabling the Trust to proceed with the development and enables us to deliver an improvement to parking at the Freckleton Street site.
During the development of the new project brief, we conducted a comprehensive review of feedback from residents and stakeholders from the previous application process. This feedback highlighted areas where adjustments could be made to better integrate the new development into its surrounding environment.
Will on street residents parking be reduced?
No. All on street permit parking for residents will be re-provided prior to construction works starting to ensure there is no loss. The proposals will increase the parking at Freckleton Street by 196 spaces, which will mean less parking by visitors and staff on nearby streets. During construction the short stay bays will be lost, however they will be re-provided and increased by one space once the MSCP is completed.
How many parking spaces will there be on site?
There will be 356 Spaces for Visitors, 64 Spaces for Staff, and four Short Stay Spaces replacing the three lost on Freckleton Street.
How does this fit into the wider parking plans for the hospital?
This will be part of an 18-month long WWL wider car parking project to provide a much more improved, fair, and equitable car parking solution for all.
How will Freckleton Street Change?
The junction with Wigan Lane is proposed to be amended with increased safety features such as blister paving for pedestrians and a change to the kerb line to slow vehicles down. Additionally, approximately 30m of Freckleton Street from the junction with Wigan Lane is being proposed to change from one-way to two-way traffic. Three Short Stay parking bays and one residential permit bay (provided prior to construction starting) will be relocated as part of these proposed works. There will be no loss of parking for residents.
Will the MSCP lead to additional pollution?
A comprehensive air quality assessment was submitted alongside our planning application to Wigan Council. Although spaces are increasing at the site, we expect there to be a negligible, if not an improvement, to air quality locally, this is due to several improvements the MSCP will bring including:
- Improved flow into the site through the removal of barriers leading to less queuing and congestion on Freckleton Street
- Vehicles will spend less time circling the car park as more spaces will be available leading to less emissions
- Vehicles will be less likely to circle the surrounding residential streets to look for parking when the car park is full
- The introduction of Electric Vehicle Charging
- The Trust are going to be promoting alternatives means of travel for staff and visitors including Cycle to Work, Car Sharing, Public Transport and Walking
How will you deal with the additional traffic?
Our current demand outstrips the supply of car parking spaces we have. The new MSCP has been designed to cater for this existing demand with additional capacity. Based on the data we have collected we understand the traffic locally will be improved as vehicles will spend less time circling nearby residential streets and through the removal of barrier entry vehicles will queue less on Freckleton Street.
The MSCP will lead to an increase in noise locally. How are you going to reduce this?
We submitted a comprehensive noise impact assessment alongside the planning application to Wigan Council. However, at this time, we understand that less noise will be present in the local area. The façade of the MSCP and the use of concrete flooring within the car park will reduce the amount noise escaping the parking areas.
I live adjacent to the MSCP. Will people be able to see into my house?
No. The car park has been repositioned on the site compared to the previous proposal to ensure it is moved away from neighbouring properties, maintaining a greater than 21m distance. Where this has not been possible, we’ve ensured the cladding on the MSCP is solid so that nobody can look through, preventing overlooking of properties.
Will the car park have any security or management present on site?
Yes. During the day there will be a management presence on site and CCTV will be increased and improved to ensure the safety of users and reduce anti-social behaviour. In the evenings, the car park will still be open for use, however security shutters will close on the vehicle entrance and pedestrian entrances will have increased security, reducing the risk further of antisocial behaviour.
How will the car park be managed out of hours? And how will potential nuisance/anti-social behaviour be managed?
Out of hours the car park will enter a heightened state of security. Shutters will close on the vehicle entrance and increased security measures requiring users to enter a code, enter their registration or scan a ticket to gain access to the car park to prevent unauthorised access.
How are you catering for Disabled users?
Though this car park won’t provide any disabled spaces on Freckleton Street, there will be 21 additional blue badge patient and visitor spaces at Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, to ensure those with the greatest need are in the closest proximity to services where possible.
I live adjacent to the site, how will the MSCP affect my right to light?
We submitted a comprehensive right to light assessment alongside our planning application to Wigan Council and will ensure the MSCP limits its impact on neighbouring properties. As the previous application had only a minor impact and the new MSCP has been designed to be not as tall with a reduced footprint, we expect the effect on any neighbours to be significantly reduced.
I live adjacent to the site, how will artificial lighting affect me?
We submitted a comprehensive external lighting impact assessment alongside our planning application to Wigan Council. This assessment looked at the impact of proposed lighting on neighbouring properties to ensure we can design the lighting to have none to little impact on neighbours. We expect the impact to be less than the current surface car park as most lighting will now be within the structure. Whilst this structure is taller than the surface car park, all sides of the MSCP will have headlight screening and parking has been arranged to face away from the majority of properties.
Where will staff park in the interim?
Replacement parking will be provided for staff that are currently allocated a parking space on the Freckleton Street surface car park within Wigan Town Centre at Mesnes Terrace and Water Street car parks. A shuttle bus service will also be provided to take staff from the car parks to the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary site.