In 2014, work on Project STAR began when the Trust secured outline planning permission for the demolition of old buildings on the Royal Infirmary site and the development of up to 236 new homes, some amenity greenspace and up to 500 square metres of community or retail space.
The NHS stopped delivering clinical services from the Royal Infirmary in 2012 when it relocated its services to the Royal Stoke University Hospital. From 2012 parts of the old Royal Infirmary site have continued to be used for staff car parking and office accommodation but unused buildings began to fall into disrepair and increasingly represented a health and safety risk.
In 2020 the NHS Trust secured the £8m funding needed to undertake the demolition of dilapidated and disused buildings on the Royal Infirmary and nearby Central Outpatients Department (COPD) sites, and in January 2021, demolition began as the next step in the local effort to transform this part of the city.
The demolition is now well on its way to completion, and the Trust has been communicating with local residents throughout the process by collaborating with community leaders and regularly updating on our live website where members of the public can ask questions to the Project STAR team.
In March, both the Royal Infirmary and COPD sites ceased to be used for temporary staff car parking when the Trust opened its new multi-storey car park at the former Grindley Hill Court site, Hilton Road.
All NHS Trusts now have a duty to sell any land not being used for the delivery of clinical care – and which is surplus to requirements – to support the national commitment to build much needed additional homes.
