Plans submitted for new Bury St Edmunds ‘garden’ hospital

Plans have been submitted to build a new hospital on the grounds of a manor house in Bury St Edmunds.

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust is seeking outline planning permission for a new hospital on the Hardwick manor estate, to replace the existing West Suffolk Hospital.

The trust bought the 70-acre plot, which neighbours the existing hospital, in 2020 and has since been engaged in a programme of consultation with the public as well as its staff and partners.

The proposed hospital is part of the government’s New Hospitals Programme, which aims to build 40 new hospitals across the country by 2030.

Last month, the programme’s first commercial pipeline of work was announced, with 11 deals at or close to the market engagement stage, worth an initial £2.5bn.

Proposals submitted to West Suffolk Council include the demolition of the existing main hospital building and the construction of a new 100,000 sq m garden hospital sitting in the manor’s parklands.

According to a planning statement prepared by the trust’s real estate advisers, the existing hospital – which was built in 1970 – has reached a point where maintenance will not extend its viability beyond 2030.

>> Meet the person charged with delivering 40 hospitals in nine years

The existing manor house and walled garden – given grade II listing status earlier this year following assessment by Historic England – would be retained, as would the arboretum.

The “Tudorbethan” country house, constructed between 1926 and 1928, will be converted from residential use to health-related uses.

Trust interim chief executive Craig Black said the outline application gave an “initial impression” of how the project might fit into its surrounding.