Yahoo News Plan to replace 'high risk' RAAC roof at Scunthorpe General Hospital - latest planning applications
A planning application has been made to replace "high risk" roofing at part of Scunthorpe General Hospital.
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG) has applied to remove reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) roofing and replace it with a metal deck roof and associated features on the top of its normal cardiology department. Greater safety concerns emerged over the use of RAAC in buildings around a year ago.
Scunthorpe General Hospital was named in October among 42 hospitals that had RAAC on part of their sites. Affected areas were closed off to patients as they were considered "high risk".
Read More:
This led to a temporary relocation of the hospital's cardiology department. Read on below for more detail about the RAAC roof replacement proposal and other recent North Lincolnshire planning applications.
RAAC roof to go at Scunthorpe General Hospital
The application to replace the normal cardiology department's roof confirms it was not the only hospital area affected by updated guidance on RAAC. The physio gym also had to be closed because of RAAC roofing. Its replacement was completed earlier this year and the service has been reinstated.
RAAC structures tend to date from the mid-1950s to 1990s. A cheaper alternative material, concerns about their durability and potential to suddenly collapse led to updated engineering guidance last year.
To enable the cardiology department works, a temporary watertight roof and a full 'bird cage' scaffold is being erected. To remove the RAAC, an existing outer membrane will go first. Then each RAAC structural bay will be "carefully broken out using pneumatic breakers, all under the protection of the temporary roof".
There will also be a dedicated walkway to help dispose of materials and a waste chute straight to a skip. The area is at level C of the hospital to the northern side. NHSE funding has been obtained for the proposal, after NLAG reviewed all its structures for possible use of RAAC.
NHS England has an overall target of 2035 to remove RAAC from all NHS buildings. An application document states the roof's replacement will "alleviate the operational pressures caused by the temporary relocation of the Cardiology Department".
Scunthorpe HMO at former working men's club
A revised plan has been put forward for an HMO in Sheffield Street by Stoke-based 5R Property Holdings Ltd. It was the home of St Philip's Working Men's Club. Around 18 months ago, the front section was turned into two flats.
The larger flat, which has four bedrooms, has been "very difficult to rent out economically", a planning document says. Permission was granted in December 2023 to turn it into a seven bed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).
Now a revised application includes conversion of not only the flat but also rear storage rooms into a nine-bed HMO. It would have a maximum residence capacity of 13.
Belton Wheatsheaf development returns again
Another application has been made to develop homes on land behind The Wheatsheaf Hotel off Westgate Road, near Belton.
Previous proposals for nine homes have been rejected twice, in 2022 and then on appeal in 2023, after the council had made no decision in eight weeks. The new proposal is downscaled to outline permission for four new homes. Access would be from the existing extended car park area of the pub, with each homes having two car spaces.
It is contended it offers an acceptable level of private amenity space and off-street parking, and the separation distance from neighbouring properties means there is no risk of overshadowing. Mark Simmond Planning Services state also in the same document: "This revised scheme is now very modest in nature and it is hoped that it overcomes the visual impacts identified in the appeal decision whilst still providing four family homes in this popular village location.
