Plans for a new 127-space car park for St Albans City Hospital have been approved by councillors.

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust have received permission to create the temporary car park at Oysterfields Open Space.

The car park will provide new access to and from the hospital, increasing the number of spaces from just seven to 127 for the next five years.

This will allow employees at the hospital to access free parking.

The proposals were unanimously approved at a meeting of St Albans City and District Council's Development Management Committee on Monday (August 5).

Nuala Littlechild, director of St Albans City Hospital, made the case for the plans, saying: "This expansion is critical due to our current and worsening parking deficit.

"A temporary site at Oysterfields was the only viable option to deal with our short to medium term parking problems."

The plans had received 15 objections from member of the public, with fears that the car park will remain at the site permanently, while others suggested that it will take many years to return the site to its former state after five years is up.

Residents have also claimed that the loss of the current open space would be detrimental to children who play at the site and use it for exercise.

Ms Littlechild addressed these concerns, saying: "We have designed the car park in a way that will limit the impact on residents."

The hospital has also committed to a £102,000 investment in new play equipment at Oysterfields, something Ms Littlechild described as a "lasting benefit to the local community".

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Cllr Sinéad Howland (Lib Dem, Batchwood) also spoke at the meeting, saying: As the member for Batchwood I ask that the park is not only returned to its original state, but that biodiversity is restored at the end of the five years."

However, she ultimately gave the plans a thumbs up, noting that the new parking spaces will "improve staff retention and morale."

There were no representations from objectors at the meeting.