Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance has taken a step forward in its pursuit to relocate its airbase and charity operations to new headquarters at a proposal site at George Curl Way in Eastleigh.

The charity has submitted a planning application to make changes to the site, including a helipad, parking spaces including electric vehicle charging points, landscaping improvements, and offices.

Doctors, pilots and paramedics currently operate out of Thruxton, Andover, but the charity says moving to a more central location would drastically reduce response times and minimise flying and travel time.

Around 70% of the service’s missions are around the Southampton, Winchester and Portsmouth region.

The life-saving charity opened a public consultation through February – March, in which they received a total of 612 responses: 561 forms plus an additional 51 emails.

It said that 97.2% of the feedback was in favour of the proposals. And while some concerns were raised regarding noise from the helicopter and any potential conflict with commercial flights, the overwhelming majority of feedback responses was driven by people wishing to show their support for the charity’s proposed move and wishing it well in the future.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance CEO, Richard Corbett, said:

“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who took the time to share constructive input during the consultation. We understand people’s reservations and concerns, and we hope we have addressed these either directly or through the public sphere. We are heartened that the majority of the feedback we received, however, was in support of our proposed move, which only strengthens our desire to carry this through to deliver the best possible outcome for our patients.”