Royal Free NHS Trust rules out return of Chase Farm A&E unit at Enfield Council planning panel meeting

Representatives of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which is redeveloping the hospital site in The Ridgeway, Enfield, were grilled by councillors and members of the public at Highlands School, in Worlds End Lane.

Some asked the trust to ‘reconsider’ its multimillion redevelopment to include a casualty unit after the hospital's A&E was closed in December 2013 despite years of protests.

But Andrew Panniker, estates director for the trust, said: “We are sticking to the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey strategy that we incorporated when we took over Chase Farm and Barnet Hospitals NHS Trust, which does not include the reopening of the A&E."

The redevelopment was projected to cost £120million following initial proposals, and will include new hospital buildings, a new primary school and new homes.

However, Mr Panniker stated that the cost has risen ‘way above’ initial expectations.

Concerns were also raised about the size of the development, which will see all current services moved to a new building of up to 32,000sq m.

Kate Wilkinson, member of the Save Chase Farm Party and former councillor said: “This is a woolly proposal. It states that the development will be ‘up to’ 32,000sq m. I am sorry but we are going to need something more legally binding than that, we all know promises have been broken over Chase Farm down the years.”

Mr Panniker said the Royal Free would need a minimum of 25,000sq m.

He added: “We understand there has been scheme after scheme shelved regarding Chase Farm but we want to ensure people that we will deliver proposals on time and to scale.”

Residents were also angry about the reduction in parking at the hospital, which under current proposals, will see a loss of 300 parking spaces from 1,200 to 900.

The complete redevelopment is set to be completed in 2018 if it is passed by Enfield Council's planning committee later this year.

Consultation on plans concludes next week.