At the Central and East planning committee today, the demolition of Dryburn House, which is a 19th Century Manor House in the grounds of the University Hospital was agreed.

This will allow for the expansion of the Accident and Emergency, which since the closing of Bishop Auckland A and E under Labour, has become busier and busier.

At the end of the meeting I raised with the senior representative from the NHS Trust the critical need for better parking provision at the hospital as part of any plans. There appears to be an acceptance that something needs to be done, and he suggested the possibility of a multi storey car park on the site.

The application for the expansion of the A and E may be upto a year off submission, but you can be sure that I will be pushing hard for a big expansion of parking and a proper travel plan and reconsideration of the current parking charges for staff.

Hospital staff are parking further and further away from the hospital to avoid parking charges and the lack of capacity and it continues to have an adverse affect to the wider community.