A new 9m disabilities centre at a major Oxfordshire hospital has been given planning approval, writes Andrew Ffrench.

Members of Oxford City Council's planning committee granted permission for the construction of an integrated disabilities centre for patients at Oxford's Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Windmill Road, Headington.

Plans include the provision of 33 car parking spaces and an ambulance bay. The application for the 9.1m project to improve healthcare was submitted by the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust.

The project will bring under one roof specialist services for people with disabilities in Oxfordshire.

It is expected that work will begin by the end of the year, before it officially opens in spring 2002. Plans for the IDC involve relocating existing Oxford-based services from Ritchie Russell House, at the Churchill Hospital, and from the Rivermead Rehabilitation Centre in Abingdon Road.

Councillors who approved the application heard that a number of trees would be cut down in order to make way for the development.

Plans for new centre have not been popular.

Some handicapped people have claimed the centre would not provide sufficient parking. The application was agreed in principle and council officers will now draw up a legal agreement with trust bosses over funding for traffic management measures.