6 August 1997
PLANNING CHIEFS GIVE THE NOD TO LONG AWAITED FACILITY
by Tom Kelly
The go-ahead has been given for the long-awaited £25m. extension to Mayo General Hospital.
Castlebar Urban Council yesterday granted planning permission for the significant project subject to conditions.
Construction work on the development, which will establish the hospital as the most modern and best equipped in the country, is scheduled to start early in the new year. Tenders will be invited for the building within the next two months.
Mr. John Condon, town clerk, said it represented one of the biggest proposals ever planned for the town. A main feature of the blueprint is the provision of a full orthopaedic unit at the Castlebar hospital. A psychiatry department will be provided at the centre for the first time, as well as conference and education facilities. A new post mortem and mortuary unit is also in the pipeline.
In all, the extension will provide the hospital with 30 additional departments and facilities, as well as a new carpark, access road and helicopter landing pad.
Mr. Condon confirmed a number of planning conditions had been attached to the permission. But the Western Health Board was being facilitated in every way in ensuring an early commencement date.
Mr. Eamon Hannon, chief executive officer, Western Health Board, last night welcomed news of the planning decision. He said another major step had been taken in bringing the plan to fruition.
"When completed, Mayo will be equipped with the finest and most modern of medical facilities into the next century," he added.
It is hoped sufficient funds will be in place for a Cat Scan before the completion of the proposed extension.
The extension to the hospital has been at the centre of much political wrangling and controversies over the years.
