The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A proposal to bring Holbeach’s two medical centres under one roof has been dropped.
The “super-surgery” plan for a brownfield site in Church Street has been replaced with a proposal for homes.
The original plan, which would have led to GPs from Holbeach Medical Centre in Park Road and Littlebury Medical Centre in Fishpond Lane amalgamating, was granted outline planning permission in February 2015.
District councillor for Holbeach Town ward, Francis Biggadike, claimed the application was a “sweetener” by Holbeach firm Ashley King Developments to go with its application for 900 homes at nearby Manor Farm.
And he believes there was a lack of consultation with stakeholders before the plan proceeded.
“I always said it would never get built,” said Coun Biggadike. “The long and short of it is that NHS England haven’t got either the finances or the human resources to take on what was being provided.
“My personal opinion is that when Kings put in for Manor Farm they put this in as a sweetener to show they were supporting infrastructure in the town.
“From a planning point of view, the council couldn’t refuse it so it was passed.
“Both doctors own their own practices. There’s no way they could make a move until they wanted to.
“There’s got to be joined-up thinking.”
Church Street Surgery Ltd, a business formulated in 2014 and including Ashley King, was dissolved in June.
A fresh planning application by Seagate Homes for 19 dwellings on the site is now being considered by South Holland District Council.
The proposal is for a mix of one, two and three-bedroom properties, mostly two-storey and semi detached. Improvements to the junction of Church Street and Hallgate are included.
A supporting statement claims the plan should be approved “without delay”.
It said: “At the present time, South Holland District Council has a housing land supply of only 2.9 years with a shortfall of 1,532 homes.
“Therefore, under the terms of the National Planning Policy Framework, this application is to be determined in the context of the presumption in favour of sustainable development.
“The proposed scheme would deliver new housing and contribute to a more robust five year housing land supply. Significant weight should be given to this benefit.”
The council says it is due to determine the outcome of the plan by September 3.
