Bristol's new £430 million superhospital at Southmead has been granted planning permission.

Bristol City councillors decided unanimously that the redevelopment of the hospital should go ahead at a meeting in the Council House last night.

The development control (north) committee approved the application on behalf of Carillion, which is leading the project as part of a private finance initiative scheme (PFI).

Work is expected to start in February, providing the Department of Health gives final approval and finances are secured.

The new hospital will house the main services from the current Southmead and Frenchay hospitals in a building geared up to the needs of 21st-century healthcare needs.

It will include 800 acute beds, a community hospital, a helipad and green area, square and piazza.

Parking spaces will increase from 1,650 to 2,700, including a visitor multi-storey car park and another for staff.

The hospital will continue to run as normal during construction.

Members, who had taken a tour of the site ahead of the meeting, raised concerns about the proximity of the main hospital building to houses in Dorian Close as well as the impact of noise from the helipad following statements and objections from residents and ward councillors, but agreed on balance the importance of the new hospital outweighed these issues.

They placed conditions on the construction of the site beyond more than 20 that had already been put forward by planning officers.

Councillors said that fences should be put up by the boundary with Bishop Manor Road to limit the impact of noise on residents and that work should be done to limit the amount of light that will be emitted from the building at night.

Members of the committee also advised that noise and air pollution should be monitored along with working times during construction. They recorded that new car parks should be used for visitors prior to completion of the new hospital, signs should be put up in Dorian Road to advise motorists that there is no hospital access, public consultation should be made about on-street parking and concerns about the Filton Road junction should be looked into.

Chairwoman of the planning committee, Barbara Lewis, said of the proximity to Dorian Close: "This is really quite a problem. It is an enormous building going up.

"People on the informal site visit will have seen how close it is to these four houses."

She said that she had tried to pace the distance out in her own garden and found it would be a "severe impact"

Area planning co-ordinator, Martin Seaton said that if the building was moved further back from Dorian Close it would have to be taller.

One resident of Dorian Close, who did not wish to be named, who has been concerned about the way the new building will overshadow his garden, said after the meeting: "I am glad they seem to have given the close due consideration.

"I would like to think that the comments made by the chairwoman about compensation were noted by Carillion. We should be able to enjoy our garden."

Sonia Mills, chief executive of North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT), which runs Southmead and Frenchay hospitals, was at the planning meeting.

She told the Evening Post afterwards: "This is absolutely critical to the scheme moving forward.

"It enables us to keep to our timetable and keep moving forwards."

Dr Christopher Burton, NBT medical director said: "It is going to be a superb facility and the whole experience of care is going to be transformed.

"We will be providing the very highest world-class care at a really world-class facility and will be a really major boost to clinical staff as well that they have got this to work towards.

"It is not just a building, it is all the design of care within the building coming together that is going to be really fantastic."