Innovation Quarter and Nuffield Health Hospital

Planning Application

Local charities Talbot Village Trust and Nuffield Health have now submitted a planning application to Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) for an Innovation Quarter and new Nuffield Health Hospital. 

The formal planning application documents are now available online at the Council's Planning Portal, which can be visited by clicking here. 

The key elements of the planning application are summarised below and an Executive Summary document can be downloaded below. 

The planning application comprises the following detailed documents:

Nuffield Hospital

Nuffield Health has been looking for over eight years to find a suitable site in Bournemouth to build a leading and pioneering new hospital.  

A new hospital is needed to meet changing community needs including higher demand. The current hospital simply does not have enough capacity to service the local healthcare community. During the COVID pandemic, Nuffield Health Bournemouth Hospital has cared for over 15,000 NHS patients and it continues to support the local NHS Trust. At present, the existing hospital cannot offer the NHS the capacity it would like to be able to, to help work through the backlog of patients successfully.

The needs of the local community have changed significantly since the current hospital was opened and therefore the Nuffield Health facilities in Bournemouth need to be brought up to modern standards. This is an opportunity to give local healthcare professionals and community the space they require and deserve and to continue and expand Nuffield Health’s existing world-leading research programmes in collaboration with Bournemouth University.

It is anticipated that the Nuffield Health hospital in Bournemouth will become known as a destination of clinical excellence, will be able to offer the charity's free community programmes, and will be the most modern, high-tech and sustainable hospital across the charity’s 37 hospitals, providing a blueprint for future Nuffield Health hospitals.

Illustrative images of Nuffield Hospital

Protecting the environment and supporting wellbeing

Protecting Talbot Heath

There is no intention of building on Talbot Heath, now or in the future, and the applicants are fully committed to protecting and enhancing this important habitat. The Talbot Village Trust Charity is a custodian, alongside BCP Council, of the protected Talbot Heath, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and home to diverse and rare wildlife.

At the present time wildlife on Talbot Heath is negatively impacted by informal recreation, as well as deliberate misuse, such as arson and fly tipping. This highly sensitive site therefore needs protecting. 

Part of the planning application therefore seeks permission to use half of the site (30 acres or 12 hectares) to deliver a Heathland Support Area (HSA) providing alternative outlet for informal recreation, that’s managed via a Management Liaison Group comprising experts and local people, to improve biodiversity of both this land and the adjacent Talbot Heath. 

Incorporating the HSA within this comprehensive application demonstrates a cohesive approach to development in the vicinity and enables the Council to consider the HSA in conjunction with the wider development proposals.

Careful consideration has been given to the landscape design to limit access to the HSA from the Innovation Quarter. Further public consultation has been undertaken including a workshop with a wide range of stakeholders which has further informed the management plan. This will continue to evolve under the guidance of the Management Liaison Group to support biodiversity on the site, including lower density rotational grazing for grassland management. 

Providing high-quality habitats

The applicants are committed to address climate change and promote sustainability. It is therefore vital that the proposed development will deliver a net gain in biodiversity, meaning that the development will ensure the quality of habitat is increased from the current “baseline” position prior to development. 

The largest area of habitat loss will be common grassland that has been grazed for a long time and therefore is recorded as being of a poor-quality habitat, determined using standard survey methodology.

The development will provide a variety of new high quality native habitats, including floristically diverse grasslands, water bodies, varied native hedgerows and extensive planting of native trees allowing local nature to thrive. Tree planting will include a combination of small and large canopy trees with native fruiting species to provide foraging resources.

All new and existing habitats will be carefully nurtured for the long term with a Landscape Ecological Management Plan to be agreed as part of the planning application. 

Supporting Wellbeing

Through early discussions with community representatives the applicants were encouraged to consider a community farm concept. 

Following public consultation, including a dedicated stakeholder workshop, the opportunity for a Growing Hub emerged as the preferred concept to promote personal health and wellbeing, education and growth rooted in nature. It will provide an opportunity for research and innovation in health and urban growing, combined with local participation in food growing across the Innovation Quarter.

The Growing Hub provides a shared area to  bring together the Universities, local schools, the proposed hospital, GP surgeries and local communities to focus on wellbeing and rehabilitation with links to wildlife, horticulture and food production. The purpose is to showcase permaculture innovations, raise awareness and offer training in food growing, linking and promoting local food production sites and provide a focus for local volunteers. Grounded Community in Boscombe provides an inspirational example of coordinated food growing and redistribution programmes in an urban setting which can inform options at the Innovation Quarter.

Enhancing connectivity  

Central to the Masterplan is a green, treelined, car free central boulevard providing a safe and attractive north / south route for pedestrians and cyclists. The boulevard will connect communities to the north - such as the two Universities, the model village, and Active Dorset at Slade Farm – with a southern link at Alyth Road and upgraded cycle routes towards the Central Gardens, Town Centre and the beach.

Along the boulevard will be a variety of soft landscaping and tree planting interspersed with public spaces, and urban growing opportunities, acting as a hub that brings the community together and promotes wellbeing for local residents, University students and the Innovation community.

Innovation Quarter

The Innovation Quarter will have a transformational impact on the Dorset Economy delivering on the need for research and innovation infrastructure identified by BCP Council and the Dorset LEP. It is a key part of the Poole Local Plan to support the economic growth and development of the local economy.

Located in the heart of the conurbation, the Innovation Quarter will become a focal point for the innovation ecosystem which is developing across the region. An exciting place of collaboration for start-ups, scale ups and new investors collaborating with academics, students, clinicians and innovators at the adjacent Universities and new Nuffield Health hospital.  

Building on the 5G low latency network, digital exchange, sustainable transport network, and connections to nature, providing opportunities for businesses emerging from the new Arts University Bournemouth Innovation Studio across a range of design, digital, creative and engineering capabilities.  Dorset’s strong heritage of businesses in engineering, security, defence, technology and digital can be turbo-charged by outputs from the Innovation Quarter, multiplying the impact across the wider region, supporting other sites such as Wessex Fields, Winfrith and Lansdowne. 

A physical embodiment of the digital networks and businesses across BCP the Innovation Quarter will create well paid, skilled jobs, retaining local young people and graduates, and attracting returners to the region. 

The Innovation quarter is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver significant economic growth benefiting the entire Dorset region, including:

Transport

The transport impact of the hospital and Innovation Quarter have been the subject of extensive testing in consultation with BCP Council. The forecast traffic levels reflect the enhanced sustainability of the site. This includes the planned extension of the comprehensive bus network developed to serve the two Universities to the Innovation Quarter with new stops on Gillett Road. Furthermore, the proposed north / south high quality cycling and walking route through the centre of the site will link to the new strategic cycling network transforming access to the area from the centre of Bournemouth and the train station. 

A new access is proposed off Cutler Close which will serve the hospital. All service traffic for the Innovation Quarter will use this access. There will be a separate access off Purchase Road for car traffic only which will serve the surface level car parks. Parking will be provided in line with the BCP Parking SPD (2021), which sets parking at a level to encourage sustainable transport. There are no plans for multi-storey car parks. 

Artist's impression of Talbot Boulevard in either direction