Queen Alexandra Hospital's plans to extend one of its entrances is back by city council

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust has been granted a certificate of lawful development for its latest revamp project with the council saying the project was fully compliant with planning policy.

The decision allows the trust to begin construction of the overhauled two-storey north entrance from Nightingale Road.

The extension will host a ground floor coffee shop, a new reception area and charity office space alongside first floor clinical space.

A statement submitted with the application by consultancy Nicholas Taylor and Associates said the development would provide new facilities while also improving access to the hospital.

'All of the new floorspace will be for the benefit of the hospital and [the trust's] drive to constantly enhance the quality of facilities on site,' it said.

Hospitals were granted an exemption from national planning law in 2015 to allow a total expansion of their footprint by up to 25 per cent under permitted development rights.

This process was also used by the trust when it applied for permission for similar but larger-scale improvements to the Harvey Road entrance. This project will see an upper floor lecture theatre built and new space for shops to be built.

The planning statement says the Nightingale Road project would equate to an increase in the hospital's floorspace by just over one per cent, based on its size as of April last year. Combined with the Harvey Road development, it totals just over 2.5 per cent.