A NEW £11m maternity unit has been given the green light in principle - ahead of the diggers moving in next month.

Barrow Borough Council planning committee considered Furness General Hospital's state-of-the-art new maternity facility as an urgent item yesterday.

The new unit is part of The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust's direct response to meeting the recommendations of the Kirkup Report and Care Quality Commission to improve the physical environment of the labour ward, which is more than 30 years old.

Ground work is due to start next month and the two-storey extension is to be ready for December 2017. It will consist of a 14-bed maternity unit, a four-bed special baby care unit, two dedicated theatres with staff and patient accommodation.

Councillors, who visited the site, agreed to give their backing to "the much-needed facility" but raised concerns about parking and drainage.

Cumbria County Council, as the highways authority and lead local flood authority, had objected to the proposal, requesting further information regarding parking, access, existing flood risk and drainage.

It had said the new development "must not compound the existing problem of on-street parking". Parking had also been raised as an issue by residents.

During the planning meeting, Councillor Bill McEwan said: "It is a much-needed facility. It is a great thing for the area. The county council has concerns about car parking. Parking is a problem there."

Parking, access and existing flood risk will be addressed through conditions.

Rain water drainage had also been a concern of the county council because of the "high risk of flooding from surface water". Further details of a sustainable urban drainage scheme were requested and the trust provided them to the borough council ahead of the meeting.

Planning case officer, Charles Wilton, told the meeting it is "one of the biggest investments in health. We don't want to see any delay to this project.

"My recommendation is we should do our damnedest to get this approved as soon as possible."

The planning committee agreed to support the maternity unit in principle. The decision to grant planning permission has been delegated to the development services manager at the borough council. Approval is expected to be given in the coming days when the drainage plan is finalised.

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