Planning

• 2019, reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was identified within parts of the existing hospital structure.
• 2020 WSFT was accepted on to the national New Hospital Programme
• 2020 Planning for a replacement hospital began
• 2023 Outline Planning permission, the first stage of the planning process, was approved for elements of the new hospital, including its overall scale, land use and access. granted for the Hardwick Manor development site
• 2026 Reserved Matters pre-application engagement completed to invite feedback that will help inform the refinement of the detailed proposals before submission of the reserved matters application, the second stage of planning permission, in the spring.

Bury St. Edmunds has been home to a hospital since 1825, with West Suffolk Hospital moving to its current location at Hardwick Lane in 1973. The hospital has continued to evolve on the site with various new buildings being added since it opened, as well as the renovation of existing buildings including our state-of-the-art Cardiac Centre, Labour Suite, and Acute Assessment Unit.

In 2019, reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was identified within parts of the existing hospital structure. RAAC is a lightweight form of concrete used widely in the UK between the 1950s and 1990s and is now known to have durability concerns. The West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust has invested heavily in the upkeep of the buildings over recent years to ensure that the existing hospital is appropriately maintained, and we are able to continue to provide high quality health services for our community. However, whilst the hospital continues to operate safely, RAAC is not a long-term solution for a modern hospital building.

In 2020, West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust assessed more than 20 potential locations for a new hospital in and around Bury St. Edmunds.

Following detailed evaluation, Hardwick Manor was identified as the preferred site which sits to the south of the current West Suffolk Hospital Hardwick Lane site, adjacent to the current hospital on Hardwick Lane in Bury St. Edmunds.

Outline planning permission was granted for this site in 2023.

We are part of the government’s New Hospital Programme. One benefit of being part of the national programme is the development of standardised designs known as Hospital 2.0 bringing together best practice, evidence, and real-world learning to define a clear set of requirements that will transform how hospitals are designed, built, and operated.

For our West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust scheme, this means that Hospital 2.0 will provide design consistency and allow us to take advantage of economies of scale and mitigate supply constraints​.

The change in levels across the site creates opportunities to build into the lower areas of the site and use the landscape itself to help reduce the visual mass of the building. The rise in level of the site moving southwards also potentially offers opportunities to access different parts of the building from external ground level but at different internal floor levels.

Proposed mitigation planting aims to provide visual screening and filtering effects.

These principles help shape how the hospital sits in the landscape, which is an area we welcome feedback on.

Early design thinking explores how the new hospital could respond sensitively to the surrounding landscape and local character, with an emphasis on breaking down scale, creating a welcoming environment, and supporting patient and staff wellbeing.

The initial ideas explored around tone and materiality takes its cue from the historic local context of Bury St. Edmund. With the new hospital being a civic institution in the area, use of similar colour tones to reflect the heritage would be appropriate and help embed the new hospital in the context of the local area.

The designs are at an initial stage and will be developed further, based on public input via the reserved matters pre-application engagement as well as Hospital 2.0 façade guidance from the New Hospital Programme team.

Our previous engagement highlighted that transport, access and car parking and are key elements for patients, staff and visitors. Further details can be found in the following drop-down sections.

Public transport routes to West Suffolk Hospital

The new hospital is exploring the inclusion of an on-site bus stop off Hardwick Lane, from where it is proposed that an on-site shuttle bus service will connect to the new hospital.

The Hardwick Manor site has numerous existing mature and high-quality trees with associated walking routes beneath. The aim is to retain these and be a key component of the proposed green arrival sequence through the hospital development.

The road carriageway will accommodate all vehicle and the option of resilient access for emergency vehicles, where needed, could be provided via the cycle lane without compromising pedestrian and cyclist safety. The cycle and pedestrian routes will sit directly adjacent to the road.

New main site entrance and junction to Hardwick Lane

The decision to form a new main site entrance and egress in the location of the existing main site road to Hardwick Lane was taken early in the master planning design process. The current indicative design aims to simplify wayfinding, and detailed design continues to be developed.

Parking

The broad intention of the parking proposals is to use as much of the existing parking on the Hardwick Lane site as practical to help prevent the landscape around the new hospital becoming a sea of tarmac. Not only is this approach more sustainable, but it would also help to save the cost of re-providing car parking areas. New parking provided adjacent to the hospital offers accessible parking for visitors and staff. An electric shuttle bus is proposed to connect the car parking to the new hospital.

Access to retained facilities on the Hardwick Lane site

Access routes to the retained estate facilities such as Wedgwood House, Quince House, Rowan House, Busy Bees nursery and St. Nicholas hospice would be connected into the new site routes, and parking that currently supports these facilities will be retained.

Pedestrian and cycle site access points

The intention is to help connect the new hospital and the retained facilities into a local network of cycle and pedestrian infrastructure by providing cycle and pedestrian access points to the west, east and north. This will connect the site to routes to the centre of Bury St. Edmunds, Hardwick Heath and the conurbations to the east, as well as out towards the villages to the west and south of Bury St. Edmunds.

Landscaping

An overarching principle underlying the landscape design is to create a healthy new hospital environment. A key design intent is to integrate principles of inclusive design with proposals to promote health and wellbeing. These principles inform plans and encourage activity by utilisation of some of the following approaches:

• Creating welcoming outdoor spaces that encourage people to spend time outside
• Making the most of views across the site and surrounding landscape
• Providing safe, accessible walking and cycling routes that connect with existing local networks
• Designing routes and spaces that support a range of abilities, from gentle movement to more active use
• Including places to pause, rest and enjoy the environment, particularly for those who may need regular breaks

Planting and trees

A strategy of preserving the existing parkland and existing woodland, which is recognised for its significant ecological importance, is a core principle of the masterplan. Overall, the planting strategy aims to enhance and preserve existing habitats, whilst promoting creation of new habitats, through proposed woodland, and diversity of planting across the site.

Detailed planting schedules will be developed at future design stages with ecologist input.

The site is home to 21 veteran trees. Besides these, the site is also home to 39 advanced candidate veterans, with these trees described as ‘not sufficiently old or of a sufficient girth to be described as ‘ancient’, but of a life stage of mature or older and exhibiting at least three ‘veteran features’.