The team behind plans for the £800m St Mary’s PFI hospital in Paddington, west London, is considering using yet another piece of land to house the scheme,

A report issued this week on the Paddington Health Campus scheme, seen by Building, said that a site north of the Paddington Basin was now a possibility.

This is thought to be land currently home to the Westminster Community School, which the council plans to close in 2006 and to relocate to two other sites in the borough.

It is understood that the team is also considering using land to the west of the existing St Mary’s Hospital, currently occupied by the Post Office (see map, right).

The plan for the scheme that emerged in the summer would be to house the three bodies involved – St Mary’s trust, The Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust and Imperial College – on three separate sites.

The project director’s report, submitted at the Brompton & Harefield Trust board meeting on Wednesday, said: “Westminster council last week suggested the possible inclusion of surplus land to the north of Paddington Basin, which is adjacent to the proposed hospital development. This proposal could provide significant gains for the project.

We have been asked to evaluate the opportunities

Project director's report

“We have been asked by the Department of Health to evaluate the opportunities this proposal provides and to report to them within a month.”

The report also admitted the team had yet to come up with an outline business case for the project as talks with Chelsfield over a land swap deal were continuing. This would give the team the land just north of the canal (marked blue on the map).

The deal has been complicated, however, by the fact that Chelsfield is itself facing a £2.1bn takeover by a consortium including Australian firms Multiplex and Westfield.

News of a possible new site for the scheme comes after the previous plan was criticised by Westminster council earlier this month. The council said it had “fundamental concerns” about the height, bulk and form of the proposed buildings, as well as the sites themselves.