Business park development ‘re-phased’ to tie in with construction of new healthcare hub

Work at a multi-million pound brownfield development site in Lynn has been “re-phased” to align with a new healthcare facility’s construction.

A West Norfolk Council and Norfolk County Council project to open up the east side of the Nar Ouse Business Park kicked off at the start of this year, with £8million in capital funding being made available as part of the county’s devolution deal with the Government.

Over the summer, businesses were invited to rent out the first units – which were due to be up and running by last month.

These negotiations are ongoing, but are now not expected to be finalised until the new NHS Primary Care Hub off Nar Ouse Way is up and running in April next year.

This facility forms part of a £25.5million capital investment which the NHS Norfolk and Waveney bid for in 2019, and is expected to assist in dealing with extra healthcare pressures being brought by an expanding Lynn.

The hub will be a modern, accessible, digitally-enabled facility where residents can access a range of health and care services. It is expected to help deliver outpatient services from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

A borough council spokesperson said: “Negotiations are ongoing with interested businesses looking to relocate to the Nar Ouse Business Park.

“Spec build units are nearing completion awaiting service connections and construction of access road which is anticipated March 2024.

“Some of the infrastructure build has been re-phased to align with the NHS Primary Care Hub development which has commenced and is due for completion April next year.”

One phase which will have to be completed by then is an access road to the healthcare hub.

When finished, the Nar Ouse Business Park development is expected to generate up to 1,500 new jobs.

The devolution deal which has allowed for the project was expected to be given the green light by the end of this year. If confirmed, it would aim to transfer more powers from Whitehall to the county council – and may result in Norfolk having a directly appointed leader.

However, no decision has been announced yet – although it was previously confirmed that even if the deal should fall through, the Nar Ouse project would still continue.