The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance (LNAA) Charity has submitted a planning application for a site in Edwalton, Nottingham.
Located just south of the A52/A606 roundabout at Edwalton, the site has been pledged as a gift to the charity by local benefactor Mr. Brian Wells, subject to securing planning permission.
It comes after Tollerton Airfield was sold for development, meaning it will no longer serve as a base for LNAA’s Nottingham Critical Care Car or as a landing site for the helicopter.
The move would potentially provide critical infrastructure to support LNAA’s life-saving operations, which currently responds to an average of four missions a day.
Last year, LNAA responded to 1,724 incidents – and demand is rising. On average, there are 1.5 ‘missed missions’ each day because the LNAA crew are already on another emergency call. Many of these occur in Nottinghamshire, underlining the urgent need for an LNAA base there.
The proposed location would provide rapid access to Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) just six miles away. Proximity to the A52 ensures swift onward patient transfer by road as QMC does not have a helipad.
LNAA’s CEO Karen Jobling said: “This proposed new base is about saving more lives. We are humbled by the generosity of Mr. Wells, and we know our supporters will be with us every step of the way should we be successful in our bid for planning permission.”
LNAA is not government or NHS funded and relies entirely on charitable donations. The proposed development is therefore a rare opportunity, enabled by the generous pledged donation of land.
Mr Wells said: “The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance is a charity close to my heart and one that I have been involved with for many years. I am delighted to be able to support this life saving service with the gift of land which has the potential to help the charity realise its vision of being by the side of more patients.
“I hope that this will inspire others to donate and help save lives because anyone of us could need this service, at any time.”
