The £420m redevelopment of the Royal Sussex County Hospital has, as expected, received the go-ahead by Brighton and Hove City Council‘s planning committee.

The huge project, which is expected to take ten years to complete and will include the demolition of the listed Barry Building, was unanimously approved by councillors at today’s meeting (27th January).

The proposal to create a Major Trauma Centre for Sussex has been described as the ‘biggest development the city has seen’ by chair of the planning committee, Cllr Phelim MacCafferty.

As well as improving health services in the city, the development will boost the economy with an assurance that at least 20% of construction workers will be locally based.

Parts of the existing hospital were built in 1826, but many conservationists had reluctantly accepted the need for the redevelopment and subsequent modernisation outweighed the calls to protect the historic structure on Eastern Road.

The development will include a new 12-storey block, which will be built in the shape of a ‘W’, while a new five storey cancer centre will be erected and a helicopter-pad will be installed on the top of the Thomas Kemp Tower.

There will also be improvements to the hospital’s teaching facilities and much-needed additional car park spaces will be created.

Chair of the planning committee Cllr MacCafferty said: “This is the biggest development the city has seen. The injection of £400m from the Royal Sussex development is brilliant news. Today we’ve recognised the need to keep our city at the forefront of public healthcare provision. It demonstrates that we are committed to working with applicants of large-scale developments to deliver high-quality plans for the city.

“When the economy is looking unstable, this important development for the city will also create hundreds of jobs and apprenticeships both in the construction of the hospital and its operation. Importantly a minimum of 20% of the construction workers will be local.”

He added: “The council was always supportive of the principle of getting a state-of-the-art regional trauma hospital into Brighton. The debate has been about the detail – things such as transport, the mass of the building and its impact on the neighbourhood.

“I would like to thank the hospital’s developers for carrying out a comprehensive public consultation. Planning officers have also worked incredibly quickly and efficiently to process such a huge application in such a short time. They have negotiated major improvements on the development to reduce its bulk and mass and soften its impacts on neighbours.”