Anger over rule-breaking contractors at £1bn hospital building site

Martin Shipton

Neighbours of Wales’ most expensive hospital project say they have been alarmed by a series of road safety and traffic issues caused by rule-breaking construction workers.

In August Nation.Cymru reported how residents living close to the site where the £1bn new Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff is being built were sick of noisy “out-of-hours” building work they said was damaging their physical and mental health.

The decision to locate the new hospital on a much-loved green space called the Northern Meadows in the capital’s Whitchurch suburb was bitterly opposed on environmental and clinical grounds.

That battle was lost, but neighbouring residents complained that their lives were being ruined by long hours of construction work that went beyond the originally permitted working hours.

What added to their annoyance was that the work was being carried out by the Spanish-owned firm Sacyr, which has a previous conviction for corrupt bid-rigging in Spain.

Now the same residents are angry about the sudden, seemingly unplanned stream of construction workers’ cars into many surrounding roads without warning and in breach of undertakings.

Influx

Residents say this influx is not only inconsiderate but dangerous. They had been assured in April 2025 that there would be no construction worker car parking on local roads and that a traffic management plan would keep disruption to a minimum.

However, numerous cars and vans turned up, with some parked so badly that residents couldn’t get out of their property or had difficulty getting back in.

Cars and large vans were parked up across pavements and on a blind bend. Photographs show a car jutting out at a wide angle across a dangerous bend and another parked along a junction’s double-dotted Give Way line.

Concerns grew for people with mobility challenges or those with prams and push chairs being forced to walk in the road, facing traffic that was sometimes fast moving.

Local residents were told by sub-contractor workers that the workforce arrived in the last week of September to find that the usual parking area operated by Velindre was closed to it. They therefore decided to park in local streets.

Notice

Amid numerous complaints from residents, Sacyr stickers appeared on some parked car windscreens, headed: “Important notice from Sacyr”. One was placed on a van with the livery of the current major subcontractor, NAB Concrete Services Ltd.

The notice warned: “Parking in this area is strictly forbidden under the terms of your subcontractor agreement,” adding: “This behaviour is causing disruption to local residents and will not be tolerated.”

However, it seemed to local people that such behaviour was tolerated, as the van remained there all day and the next day and was still parking on the same part of the street a week later.

A resident who did not wish to be named said: ‘This subcontractor, and maybe every other, seems answerable to no-one, and the Sacyr sticker only seems to be there for the consumption of us residents to save Sacyr’s blushes.

“It will surely be concluded by some that lack of control on mere car parking, seems a bad omen for bigger issues ahead, such as the future-proofing of the new Velindre. The Acorn consortium, which won the contract to build and maintain the new hospital for 25 years, has Sacyr at its heart. This is a company that remains under a guilty verdict in Spain for 25 years of serious fraud by bid-rigging, a recognised form of organised crime.

“Some also question the secrecy around Acorn/Sacyr’s contract with the Welsh Government regarding the payback term. This lack of transparency fosters doubts about the new centre’s future freedom to respond to fast-changing NHS cancer treatments.”

Restrictions

A statement posted by Sacyr on the Acorn website said: “We are aware of recent concerns regarding parking around the Whitchurch hospital site, and want to assure the local community that we are treating this issue as a priority to reduce disruption and prioritise access for patients and hospital staff.

“Construction workers have been restricted from using the on-site hospital car park as of Monday September 29. Subcontractors were informed of this change in advance, with formal communications sent on September 25 reminding them of two designated off-site parking facilities to further support this approach. A third off site parking facility was introduced on October 1.

“Despite [taking] proactive steps, a small number of subcontractors have continued to park on public roads … which has understandably caused concern among residents. While public road parking is legally permitted, our subcontractor agreements clearly prohibit parking in nearby residential areas.

“These expectations are reiterated during all worker inductions and in ongoing communications. Unfortunately, enforcement remains a challenge, but we are taking further steps to improve compliance.”

Velindre University NHS Trust has stated that after assessing the demand for spaces from Velindre staff and to help reduce the community impact, a section of the Whitchurch Hospital car park has been reallocated and specifically designated for Sacyr staff. This area includes around 50 spaces.