Work has started to extend the Gravel Pit Car Park at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, which will provide 176 new spaces for staff on the land to the east of the current car park area. 

The work will also include the creation of a retaining wall and ramp to accommodate the nine-metre height difference, as well as new lighting and CCTV.

The work will take approximately 18-20 weeks and all the new spaces should be open by early July 2024, although the first phase (creating a minimum of 88 spaces) should be open by the end of May 2024.

Up to 30 spaces will be lost for the duration of the project.  For three weeks in March, while the retaining wall is constructed, more than 60 spaces will be closed for a period of three weeks.

This work to the Gravel Pit car park marks the start of a wider programme to improve, extend and reallocate spaces across the Royal Cornwall Hospital site, and is a key enabler for the new Women and Children’s Hospital programme.