Should Royal Berks be rebuilt in new location?

THE Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading could be moved to a new out-of-town site.

Thames Valley Science Park in Shinfield has been identified as a possible new location for the hospital in Wokingham Borough Council’s updated local plan. Other options being considered are moving it to Green Park in Whitley or keeping it where it is.

The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust has said the current building needs

£200 million in maintenance work as well as more clinical space. It is one of 48 trusts that will receive government funding to rebuild or construct new hospitals by 2030.

The trust will spend the next 15 months looking at which option to support with construction expected to start in 2025 or 2026. Reading Borough Council wants the hospital to remain in the town. The Government will have the final say on the choice of location.

Below, two senior members of the borough councils argue their cases.

No, by by Councillor Tony Page, deputy leader, Reading Borough Council

THE Royal Berkshire Hospital has served Reading and adjoining communities since 1839, when it opened on land donated by Henry Addington, a former prime minister and past student of Reading School.

The original building was extended in the 1860s, with east and west wings.

It is no secret that the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust is considering alternatives for the hospital, as it is required to do by the Treasury.

The alternatives are possible relocation to a new site or the refurbishment and redevelopment of the current site.

Every organisation should periodically look at its premises and consider alternatives. It is something we have done at the borough council, not least in 2015 when we moved our own offices.

Just to be very clear, any potential future move for the Royal Berks does not fall under the remit of either Wokingham or Reading councils but the NHS trust.

However, as local authorities responsible for strategic planning and transport issues, we do have an important role and relevant opinions that need to be taken into account. A major NHS hospital is not just any organisation. A proposal to relocate the Royal Berks brings major concerns to a great many people in Reading.

Earlier this year, Reading Council gave its response to Wokingham council’s local plan consultation.

The plan includes a major development of up to 4,500 homes at a Hall Farm/Loddon Valley site, alongside employment development near the Thames Valley Science Park.

In addition, it refers to the potential to accommodate a relocated Royal Berkshire Hospital at the site.

While the hospital’s current location can bring challenges to local residents in parking and servicing demands, the other side of that coin is that it benefits from our excellent local transport links in Reading.

This means many people can leave their cars at home, health permitting, of course. The very real concern that I have is around accessibility to any potential new hospital site for those who require it, whether patients, staff or visitors.

The Hall Farm/Loddon Valley site sits some 4km to 7km from the centre of Reading.

Its accessibility to central Reading and the rest of the Reading “urban area” is currently extremely poor. Both the M4 motorway and River Loddon (and its floodplain) form major barriers to movement.

This site is nowhere near equipped enough to provide the level of accessibility needed for a major regional NHS hospital.

Unless there is a dramatic improvement in public transport accessibility from the outset, which would mean significant infrastructure investment, Reading council is clear that we cannot support any future move to such an inaccessible site.

Let’s face it, Wokingham’s track record in promoting and supporting public transport is inconsistent and unreliable to say the least.

The same concerns apply to any major housing developments in this area.

We know that 4,500 new homes right on the edge of Reading will create a need for travel into and out of Reading throughout the day and evenings.

Without proper and planned public transport and cycling links, this number of new houses will inevitably bring thousands more car movements into and out of our town every day.

It would then be the residents of east Reading who suffer in terms of traffic congestion and poor air quality — unless there is massive investment in sustainable transport options.

This requires more mass rapid transport schemes to promote buses, and possible light rail, along with an attractive and comprehensive cycling and walking network into Reading.

Both Reading and Wokingham councils have declared climate emergencies and I would hope this is reflected in the respective local plans.

It is in Reading’s already adopted and approved local plan but a similar urgency and commitment seems lacking in Wokingham’s draft.

We have a responsibility as strategic planning authorities to plan sensibly for the future, both in terms of short-term developments and their longer-term impacts.

There is little doubt these environmental and transport interests are not served by moving the Royal Berks to an inaccessible location.

The hospital rightly belongs in Reading where it can best serve the town as well as many communities in Wokingham and West Berkshire — and long may that continue.

Yes - by Councillor John Halsall, leader, Wokingham Borough Council

THE clue is in its name — the hospital is for Berkshire.

The Government pledged several new hospitals with the Royal Berkshire in its sights.

There are clearly two options — a completely new hospital or investment in its current site coupled with maybe some investment elsewhere.

The benefits of a new hospital are very clear in clinical terms with considerable advantage in running costs.

Continually redeveloping the existing site is never going to be anything other than higgledy-piggledy whatever the investment. (That is unless the hospital is shut, razed to the ground and a completely new facility put in its place, which is unlikely to occur or even desirable.)

A new hospital would offer significant opportunities to address climate change and biodiversity, which are not possible on its current site.

If a new hospital were to be considered, Wokingham could be the sensible location.

It could be near to its current site and could be well served by roads and public transport.

It could be next door to or within the University of Reading. (The university is mostly in Wokingham borough — the name is an historical anomaly.)

A closer relationship with the university would allow for a fully fledged medical school, coupled with an expansion of research to join its current faculties including the Rutherford Cancer Centre and the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences. Currently the hospital is some way from the centre of Reading, requiring good transport communications to the station and the rest of Reading.

Being an urban setting, road connections are less than ideal and parking is both expensive and at a premium.

A new less urban setting would allow for free parking and excellent green transport.

Of course, a completely new hospital would have a cost which the Government may not wish to bear and finite investment in the current facilities could be considerably cheaper.

So at the end of the day it will be a choice for Her Majesty’s Government.