COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

It would create a reported 100 jobs



A new hospital could open in an empty Coventry office block. Developers say the facility at Ashford House in Walsgrave business park will create 100 jobs if approved.

It would have 25 beds for patients and doctors will perform around 20 surgeries per day, plans reveal. Cloverglade Ltd's bid to convert the building expires late next month.

Their plans for the two-storey office come after a nearly three-year fruitless search to let or sell it. Property firm Bromwich Hardy told of a "very limited interest" in the site, despite intensive marketing, in a report with the new scheme.

They said the region has too many offices following the Covid-sparked move to home working, and also revealed that businesses prefer the city centre. Planning agents Framptons admitted the move would go against a policy designed to protect employment space.

But they claimed that there is no "public interest" reason for the block to stay empty and stressed the new use would bring jobs. They added that conversion will be cheaper than building new, though still costly.

Another claim indicates the hospital will not be run by national health chiefs. They said it is beyond doubt extra medical facilities are needed "to ease the burden of health care upon the NHS."

Their statement also gave more detail about how the new hospital will work if it gets the green light. The building's ground floor is set to have an operating theatre, consulting rooms and staff and patient areas.

Drawings show the first floor would be turned into 26 bedrooms, including an extra one for a doctor. If approved, the hospital will have seven consultants seeing patients at a time, though this would be at its busiest and the usual number would be five.

Doctors will see a patient every half an hour from 8.30am to 6pm, the statement adds. More details on the plans can be viewed on the council planning portal via reference: PL/2024/0001637/FUL.

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Plans for new Coventry hospital take huge step forward

Plans for a new hospital in Coventry have taken a major step forward. Empty offices in Walsgrave Triangle Business Park can be converted into a medical centre, officials ruled yesterday, 10 March.

The private hospital will be based at Ashford House on Eden Road. It will focus on eye and foot care, be open six days a week, see 40 patients per day and hire 55 full time staff, acording to plans.

Reports claim the facility will help take pressure off the city's health trust and slash waiting times for treatment. Around three-quarters of its work will be providing services for the NHS.

Doctors will see patients from 8.30am to 6pm and the hospital will have 25 beds for patients who need to stay overnight. Plans claim that most people going to the hospital for surgery will go home afterwards but some more complicated procedures will need an overnight or two night stay.

The conversion to a hospital will also see huge parking changes at the site. Around three quarters of the car park at the side and back of the offices will be cordoned off or used as space for delivery vehicles and hospital storage.

The new hospital will be run by Mr Bal Manoj who manages a clinic providing both NHS and private treatment in Shrewsbury, according to scheme documents. Planning agents say he has spent 23 years in the NHS including 14 as a consultant opthalmologist, and his Shropshire business is seeing success.

Agents also pointed out that before the Coventry hospital opens it will need to pass another test. The medical centre will have to be inspected by the health regulator and granted a licence.

Coventry council originally turned plans for the hospital down last November over too much parking and not enough boosting of sustainable travel. This time they said plans for the car park are an "appropriate use" but a travel plan would need to be approved before the hospital opens and be rolled out soon after.

A neighbour objected to the scheme, raising multiple concerns over where medical waste, gas storage and a paper shredder would be based. But officials said more details on plans on these outside facilities for the hospital will have to be sent in and said a linkway between schools behind the office site is "acceptable."

They said safeguarding procedures are the school's responsibility and GDPR risk is not a planning matter. The local also claimed that access to the site is "already congested" and people who have previously used the offices complained about blocked entrances in mornings and afternoons.

But officers said the site can already be used as offices and traffic problems at drop-off and pick-up times are created by the school, so should be tackled by it. The hospital is still able to be used as offices under its new use.

More details on plans and the council's decision can be found on its planning portal via reference: PL/2025/0000077/FUL

It will focus on eye and foot care