Christie pushes ahead with £135m treatment centre
THE Christie has submitted plans for a new £135m radiotherapy centre at its base in south Manchester.
The Proton Beam Therapy Centre is one of two being built in the UK as part of a £250m Government project to introduce the latest cancer treatment.
A report submitted to the council by Turley said the five-storey building in Oak Road would create 150 jobs and contribute £5.52m a year to Manchester’s economy.
Proton beam therapy uses a particle beam to destroy cancer cells which is more precise than x-rays. At present the only such centre in England is at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Merseyside which treats patients with rare forms of eye cancer. However, it only generates low energy proton beams and is not suitable for other types of tumours.
The other new centre will be at University College London Hospital (UCLH). Together it is hoped they will treat around 1,500 patients a year from 2017.
In recent years The Christie has run into opposition from nearby residents over the scale of expansion and worries about car parking. The new centre will cause the loss of 116 car parking spaces but Turley said this will “provide further incentive for travel to the site by sustainable modes of transport”. The council signed off a masterplan for the hospital’s long-term development last month.
