Watford Health Campus – The Masterplan
The vision for West Watford
The Watford Health Campus masterplan aims to deliver a comprehensive regeneration programme for West Watford. The redevelopment will see the West Watford area reconnected to the town centre. Currently much of the circa 26.5 hectares of land is poorly used, but through careful design, this can be transformed into a quality environment to live, work and play in. When completed, the Health Campus will deliver:
• new, modern hospital facilities serving up to 500,000 people
• new employment space and up to 1,600 new local jobs
• much needed new affordable homes
• improved open public space that will be easy for the community to get to and enjoy
• a link road to the hospital site which will help reduce congestion and allow better access for hospital vehicles and visitors
• cleaning-up of former industrial and contaminated land
• a community garden where local people can enjoy the benefits of growing fresh produce
• a neighbourhood centre in the west of the town including facilities such as local shops and services
West Watford is a built up urban area in need of regeneration and blighted by traffic congestion. A key ambition of the masterplanis to ‘green’ West Watford.
The plan aims to:
- Create significant new landscaped public open spaces
- Enhance access to existing and newly created green open spaces
- Enhance and create lake and riverside walks and access
- Enhance and create new habitats to encourage bio-diversity
A masterplan for the site received planning permission in 2008. This is currently being considered in view of current demands, financial viability and the need to secure the opportunity to provide new hospital facilities on the site.
