THE Westbury Hospital campaign group Sensible Thinking On Patients (STOP) is urging people to submit comments, after a planning application for 60 homes on the land site was submitted to Wiltshire Council.
People have until January 1 to make a comment on the application, which was submitted by NHS Property Services and includes 30 per cent affordable housing and public open space.
Chairman of the STOP group, Erica Watson, said: “We are disappointed with the timing given the Christmas period and we feel that families should come first.
“The deadline for comments is a bank holiday and the council staff working will be skeleton staff so we are going to see if we can get an extension.
“We have 12 houses less than the draft proposal but I think the access problems are going to be the same along Orchard Road and The Butts.
“Time is of the essence though and We need as many people as possible to comment on the application.”
The former hospital was closed in April 2012 and later deemed surplus to requirements by NHS healthcare commissioners.
A draft proposal for 72 homes was put forward for public consultation in February this year and an independent study carried out on behalf of NHS Property Services concluded that it would cost between £4million and £6million to refurbish the hospital.
James Wakeham, regional director for NHS Property Services, said: “We have engaged with local people and groups and have listened to the feedback. We have contacted a wide range of care providers to see if they would be interested in a facility there – but we have been unable to find a viable care use for it.
“We also have reduced the number of homes in the application to 60 and have revised the indicative site layout so it is more appropriate in relation to neighbouring properties.”
A number of alternatives for the site had been sought by STOP, including using part of the site for medical purposes and creating a Trust to manage it.
Councillor Gordon King, added: “Unfortunately we have not been able to find any developer yet that might be able to deliver our idea.”
To view a further statement from STOP and an address to send comments go to page 36 of the Wiltshire Times.
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