 Pembury hospital has been in operation since the 19th century |
The government is being urged to make a swift decision on the site of a new hospital for Tunbridge Wells. The town's Conservative MP Archie Norman says the area has already been waiting six years for a new hospital and he wants the project to move forward.
The Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust wants a new hospital at its existing Pembury hospital site.
But developers Kilmartin Properties have submitted an alternative plan for next to the Knights Park retail development in Tunbridge Wells.
Mr Norman said: "The Minister for Health has told me it is not possible to proceed with either site until the legal planning proceedings have concluded.
Plans shelved
"I've therefore written to the Deputy Prime Minister asking him to bring the folder to the top of his in-tray, so that the NHS Trust knows where it stands as soon as possible."
A new hospital for Tunbridge Wells was first widely talked about in the 1960s.
Plans were firmly in place to build one in 1997 before a review of health services in Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone saw the scheme shelved.
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