Plans for medical hub at new estate abandoned

Plans to build a new medical centre on a 660-home estate have been abandoned.

Developer Bloor Homes had pledged a parcel of land and £262,300 for the new health hub at the Kings Hill Park estate in Rochford, Essex.

But the NHS said it needed a "multi-million pound, multi-year" funding arrangement.

It is the latest stumbling block for a project that has proved controversial in the town, and district council leader Danielle Belton told BBC Essex the news was "infuriating".

Rochford District Council refused the application for the estate in 2021, but it was granted permission on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate the following year.

In 2023, Bloor Homes secured a High Court injunction to move demonstrators who were protesting against the felling of a tree at the site.

Many of the homes are now being lived in.

Bloor Homes had to provide the land and funding for the medical centre as part of a Section 106 agreement - in which developers typically agree to make a contribution to the local community.

But William Guy, the director of primary care at the NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB), said no long-term funding had been offered.

"While we welcome all investment in local health services, proposals for new healthcare facilities require multi-million-pound, multi-year funding commitments," he said.

"Without confirmed capital, the NHS could not commit to progressing a new build."

The ICB said getting money from third-party developers had become increasingly challenging nationwide.

Belton, Conservative leader of Rochford District Council, speculated whether the "right people are speaking to each other or it's a lack of will to get it done".

"We make these plans, we do the research, we spend the money and the time to ensure that the plan is sound, only for [it to be changed] by the third parties who have the control," said Belton, speaking to BBC Essex presenter Sonia Watson.

"It does feel like an uphill battle that we as councillors are lobbying the government to look at how it can be changed and how it can be improved to be more sustainable."

A spokesperson for Bloor Homes said it had "fulfilled its obligations" by offering the land and providing the financial contribution "within the agreed timeframe".

"The decision not to take forward the transfer of this land rests entirely with the primary care trust (ICB)," they said.

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