Hospital told new £4m helipad must be bigger (From Wimbledon Guardian)

St George's Hospital told new £4m helipad must be bigger

9:00am Sunday 17th March 2013 in News By Amelia Burr

St George’s Hospital has scrapped plans to reduce the size of a new helipad which was too small for Search and Rescue helicopters.

The proposed £4m helipad, approved last year, was reduced by 5 sq m in another application withdrawn last week, making it too small for larger helicopters used by Search and Rescue teams.

Sadiq Khan, MP for Tooting, told the hospital residents expected the helipad ‘to be able to cope with all eventualities’. 

He said: "I am relieved that the [hospital] trust has listened to our concerns and has now withdrawn this planning application."

The revised application for the first London hospital helipad south of the river, aimed to reduce the ‘scale and noise’ from the original plan, which received just four objections about potential noise disturbance.

Permission was granted when it was estimated the hospital would only receive one flight per day.

The hospital is now developing a third proposal.

A St George’s Healthcare spokesperson said: "We will be resubmitting our application to meet the needs of all other existing and future emergency aircraft.

"Preparatory work is ongoing for the development which is on course to open later this year."

Mr Khan added: "I look forward to reviewing the Trust’s application when it is resubmitted in the coming months."