Green light for temporary expansion at Stoke Gifford Medical Centre

Stoke Gifford Medical Centre

Officials at South Gloucestershire Council have approved plans for a temporary expansion of Stoke Gifford Medical Centre, which serves the southern part of Bradley Stoke.

The expansion, formed of three ‘portacabins’ to be sited east of the present building in Ratcliffe Drive, is seen as a precursor to a major scheme of expansion at the premises, which is currently on hold due to funding difficulties.

Information supplied with the planning application states that:

“A new business case [for a substantial expansion] was approved by the PCT [NHS] in May 2008. However part of the capital funding for the extension/refurbishment is dependant upon the development of new housing at Harry Stoke, and it appears that this has been delayed for the foreseeable future.”

Installation of temporary accommodation was therefore proposed to “help relieve the current shortfall in accommodation whilst the delays to the funding of the extension/refurbishment are resolved.”

Planners have now given the green light for the portacabins for a period of five years, although the practice hopes that they will be needed for no more than three years.

A spokesperson for the practice gave the following statement to The Journal:

We are delighted that our planning application to provide additional accommodation by means of temporary buildings has been approved by South Gloucestershire Council. Planning permission has been granted for a period of up to 5 years, though we hope that the temporary buildings will not be required for anything near that length of time.

South Gloucester PCT approved our business case for a £1.7million permanent extension and refurbishment of our existing premises in the first half of 2008. The provision of temporary accommodation for a limited period of time was an essential element of the proposal. We are now working with our architects, G2 Architects, to work out the detail of the permanent scheme and in particular to identify a financial framework that will allow us to proceed to full implementation. The practice is responsible for raising the capital for the project, though the PCT has committed to a rental value to help support the required borrowing.

Stoke Gifford Medical Centre is fully committed to serving the populations of Stoke Gifford, Bradley Stoke, Harry Stoke and Filton (from our Conygre Road facility) and providing comprehensive primary care facilities from modern, well equipped premises.

The centre is one of three GP practices that NHS South Gloucestershire has said will be expanded to meet healthcare demand in Bradley Stoke, after plans to build a new health centre near the new town centre in Savages Wood Road were dropped.

Related Link: GP practices serving Bradley Stoke (The Journal)

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