The site is being redeveloped with a smaller hospital after a decision to relocated many health services to the expanded Lister hospital in Stevenage under a £72m contract awarded to Vinci and Sir Robert McAlpine joint venture.
The new QEII hospital, which will cost £25m to build, will provide a local A&E facility alongside other services including a children’s centre, while the rest of the site will be built out with 200 homes.
Space on the site has also been set aside for a health and social care facility, which would provide beds for older people, and other services.
The original application was considered by the council’s planning control committee on 11 August, but the decision was deferred to allow NHS Hertfordshire to clarify how additional car parking spaces could be provided in the future.
Jacqui Bunce, who is leading the development on behalf of NHS Hertfordshire, confirmed that a legal agreement would soon be put in place to make sure that the provision of car parking is right.
“We have committed to review the car parking arrangements six months after the new hospital opens and annually for three years after that and can incorporate additional spaces if they are needed,” she said.
Penoyre & Prasad, a London-based team of architects, has been chosen by NHS East and North Hertfordshire to work on the new hospital on the QEII site.