UNISON and other union representatives were meeting Devon Primary Care Trust's Transportation Group yesterday to voice concerns about car parking arrangements at Newton Abbot's new hospital.

The £25 million state-of-the-art building at Jetty Marsh opens on Monday, but some staff are upset that they have not received parking permits.

When planning permission was granted, conditions included a green travel plan to encourage staff and patients to find environmentally friendly ways of travelling to and from the hospital.

Of those that have applied for permits, 38 have been turned down. They face either walking or catching a bus to and from work.

It brought a comment from one member of nursing staff, who did not wish to be named, that morale was at rock bottom.

Sue Orwin, Unison's Torbay Health Branch secretary, said there were other concerns of the safety of those walking to and from work and they were asking Devon PCT to push for Teignbridge Council to cut back the area's hedges.

'We believe there is an obligation on the PCT to ensure people's safety. We also want them to stress to people that they can appeal against the decision if they are refused a parking permit,' said Mrs Orwin, adding that obviously it was never going to be a fully solvable issue.

In the long term, Unison would be pushing for the trust to purchase more land for parking or park and ride.

The hospital, which has 60 beds, will have 51 staff car parking spaces and 120 for visitors and patients, the latter pay-and-display in which volunteer league of friends members can park with no charge.

Tariffs in the car park, which is to be operated in partnership with the district authority, will be 90p up to an hour, rising to £3.90 per day.

Dave Rollason, the Devon PCT facilities manager, said the opening of the new hospital was a major boost to the town and to staff morale.

Staff wishing to drive to the hospital were invited to send in an application for a parking pass.

'We took great care to develop the criteria so that people who work at night, who live the furthest away, who have dependent children or an elderly relative were given priority.

'We issued 95 passes and established that 38 people were not eligible because they did not meet the criteria,' said Mr Rollason.

There will be a daily subsidised bus service from 8am to 8pm at £1 return from the town centre. Operation of the system is to be monitored.

Referring to the green travel plan, Mr Rollason said the parking regime brought the hospital into line with car parking already operated at other hospitals.

'It will ensure that resources are not diverted away from patient care.

'The roads leading to the hospital are well lit and are generally busy.

'Staff who may experience problems under the new system should raise these with their manager who will look into the issues,' he stated.