PLANNING permission for the major redevelopment of Lister Hospital in Stevenage has been granted. At a meeting last night (Tuesday), Stevenage Borough Council s planning and development committee gave the green light to the plans, which include the expans

PLANNING permission for the major redevelopment of Lister Hospital in Stevenage has been granted.

At a meeting last night (Tuesday), Stevenage Borough Council's planning and development committee gave the green light to the plans, which include the expansion of maternity services, the creation of a multi-storey car park, and the building of a new main south block.

Emergency services at Lister and at the QEII in Welwyn Garden City will also be consolidated on the Stevenage site.

Work on the new �47million surgicentre at Lister, the planning application for which was approved some time ago, is well underway as part of the �100million redevelopment of the hospital.

The day case and short-stay surgery facility is set to open in April 2011.

Construction of the �16.4million maternity unit is expected to start in September and be completed in 2011.

The multi-storey car park is set to be in place by 2011.

Trust chairman, Richard Beazley, said: "We are grateful to Stevenage Borough Council for its approval of our planning applications, which are designed to transform the Lister into the major acute centre for inpatient and emergency care in our part of the county.

"When completed in a few years time, we will be providing our patients with the benefits of 21st century medicine in state-of-the-art buildings."

The redevelopment of the Lister site is set to be completed in 2015.