Newsteer supported West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust through the planning strategy for a replacement hospital at Hardwick Manor, part of the national New Hospital Programme.
The client’s challenge
The Trust needed to secure a robust planning framework for a major new acute hospital while coordinating extensive pre-application engagement and a complex hybrid application.
Our solution
Newsteer led planning advice through more than two years of pre-application work and the submission of a hybrid planning application in April 2022.
Beyond advice: how we added value
Long-term involvement allowed planning strategy, stakeholder engagement and the evolving hospital brief to be managed as one process rather than a series of disconnected submissions.
Outcomes and impact
Outline planning permission was granted in 2023. In February 2026, the Trust began public engagement ahead of its Reserved Matters application for the next stage of the scheme.
