Health chiefs tender for ERI car park

NHS LOTHIAN has tendered the contract for a £3.6million car park at the city's Royal Infirmary.

The 1100 space parking area, which is to be built on farmland plots on part of the Bio Quarter, will ease the considerable strain on the hospital's existing facility.

The new development will also help to cater for the extra vehicles visiting the new Sick Kids Hospital when it moves from its Marchmont base and opens in 2013.

The health board is currently searching for a contractor to carry out the work while a design team are already working on the timescale.

City heritage group the Cockburn Assocation objected to the plan to cut through a corridor of green land, which runs as far out as Esk Valley to the foot of the Royal Mile, describing the proposals as a "damaging application".

However, councillors approved the plans in late May, and work is expected to begin at a later date.

The proposal has also drawn criticism from patients' representatives within the hospital for being too far away from the facilities, and lacking provisions for cyclists.