Sam Rowlands MS calls for more collaboration to solve parking issues at a North Wales Hospital

Sam Rowlands, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, wants the council and health board to work together to resolve parking problems at Wrexham Maelor hospital.

Speaking in the Senedd, Mr Rowlands, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure highlighted the importance of infrastructure to cope with a growing population. 

He said:

“In my region of North Wales, at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, there is a particular issue with parking at the hospital, which has been exacerbated because of population growth, which is a welcome thing, but the infrastructure needs to be able to follow that growth as well.

“Constituents, patients, visitors and staff report daily difficulties at the site. People arriving for appointments are arriving stressed, anxious and often late because they cannot find safe and available parking. Staff working long, demanding shifts are facing the same challenges. And this is not just a minor inconvenience, of course, it's a barrier to care, a risk to patient well-being and a strain on an already pressurised workforce.

“It strikes me that councils are well placed to support health boards with this, not just in terms of developing infrastructure to support these sites, but also perhaps in the management and perhaps enforcement at these sites as well, because councils are experiencing this day in, day out with their own car parks.”

Mr Rowlands asked Jayne Bryant, Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government did she agree that councils and health boards should be working together to see how issues like this at Wrexham Maelor Hospital can be resolved, considering the expertise that sits within local authorities.

The Cabinet Secretary said she would be happy if Mr Rowlands would write to her about the particular issue at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

Mr Rowlands added:

“It is quite clear that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board need support to help fix these long-running parking issues at the hospital and welcome any move which move the matter forward.

“I do think, however,  that it is also something which needs input from the Welsh Government and I will certainly be writing to the Cabinet Secretary in more detail.”