Plans for new radiotherapy centre in Monmouthshire submitted

Saul Cooke-Black, local democracy reporter

Plans for a new radiotherapy centre which will provide cancer treatment closer to home to patients in Gwent have been lodged with Monmouthshire council.

The proposed centre at Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny – a joint venture between Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and Velindre University NHS Trust – aims to provide additional and more accessible radiotherapy services for residents in Gwent and South Powys.

According to plans lodged with Monmouthshire County Council, an antenatal building at the hospital will be knocked down and replaced with the new two-storey satellite radiotherapy centre.

A planning statement says the antenatal service unit, which will be relocated within the hospital, is vacating its current building this year, providing an opportunity to redevelop the site.

Dedicated entrance

The centre will be an extension to the existing hospital buildings, but a planning statement says it will have its own “distinct identity” and a dedicated entrance.

A courtyard garden, providing views out and a place to sit and enjoy nature, will act as “a focal point” of the proposal.

Treatment facilities will be situated on the ground floor, while staff facilities such as offices, workshops and rest facilities will be on the first floor.

Facilities of the centre will include a waiting area, on treatment review suite, radiotherapy treatment suite and imaging suite.

The centre will also be “as carbon neutral as possible” and will include solar panels on the roof, according to a planning statement.

In a pre-application consultation, Abergavenny Town Council said it was ‘disappointed’ the plans do not include provision for natural light to enter the centre from above, and has suggested some changes to the designs.

A response from the applicants says the plans include provision for natural light to enter the corridors of the centre through double height spaces on both sides of the building though.

Concern

Natural Resources Wales has also raised concern about “inadequate information” in the application.

The radiotherapy unit has been identified to provide cancer treatment for patients closer to home, with the majority currently having to travel to the Velindre hospital in Cardiff.

It forms part of the transforming cancer services in south east Wales programme, which aims to provide treatments closer to home, reduce inequality of service and minimise travel times.

“The vision for the new SRU (satellite radiotherapy unit) within Nevill Hall Hospital not only seeks to deliver a vital new cancer treatment centre but also seeks to deliver the new centre with wellbeing, the environment and architecture at its heart,” a planning statement says.

The development also includes re-aligned access for ambulance drop off as well as a replacement car park with 74 spaces for hospital users, and a new transformer substation.

Monmouthshire council will assess the plans.