A CRICKET club in Barrow has questioned whether the prevention of seagull nesting has been taken into account in proposals for a new facility at Furness General Hospital as the club have an ‘issue’ with aggressive seagulls.

Barrow Cricket Club have responded to plans lodged by University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) for a single-storey modular building at the Barrow hospital.

According to planning documents, the proposed building would provide a community diagnostics centre including an MRI unit to support existing facilities at Furness General Hospital.

In a planning consultation, the club say they are generally in favour of the ‘valuable’ facility but question whether measures have been taken to prevent seagulls nesting on the flat roof.

In response to the plans the club state: “As a Club, we have a number of problems with the hospital staff smoking and eating on our premises, with some feeding the birds and encouraging them; which is against our wishes.

“Seagull nesting and feeding in residential areas has opposing views, but from our point of view, with children playing and watching cricket and seagulls becoming aggressive at fledging time during the cricket season, is an issue for us."

Plans say the site is an ‘unused piece’ of land within Furness General Hospital which previously housed a temporary theatre to support the hospital until it was demolished in 2018.

UHMBT point out that many hospital buildings have flat roofs and are well prepared in managing the challenges that pests pose to those structures.

David Sanderson, Director of Estates and Facilities, UHMBT, said: “We are grateful to Barrow Cricket Club for registering their general support for the proposed Community Diagnostic Centre at Furness General Hospital and agree with their sense that it will be a valuable new facility for the community.

“This multi-million-pound development, which will be staffed by our Trust, will help cut the time patients spend waiting for tests and results. The development is a hugely positive step for the Trust in terms of enabling us to deliver high quality and efficient diagnostic services for our patients. Most importantly, our patients will benefit from an improved experience, and they will receive their results quicker.”

This planning application is undergoing public consultation.