Proposals for a new Westwood Health Campus have been given the green light at a Thanet council planning meeting.
Councillors at the meeting last night (June 26) agreed to defer to officers for approval when safeguarding terms and developer contribution agreements are completed.
Developer Quinn Estates aims to create a primary medical care facility, a 70 flat extra care/assisted living building, an 8o-bed care home, two retirement blocks consisting of 90 self contained flats and a children’s nursery at land off New Haine Road at the rear of Westwood Sainsburys.
The extra-care facility will be provided as 100% affordable rent housing, to be operated by provider Preferred Homes.
As part of the agreement there is a requirement for all occupiers to meet eligibility criteria, which shall include having a social care need, physical or learning disability, or mental health illness, and being listed on the council’s housing register.
There is also an obligation for the submission of a care package for the care home, to include an element of dementia care.
The plan has been amended to include up to 9,253sqm of commercial floor space. The nursery location has also been moved away from the road and there are some height alterations to the buildings.
The medical care facility has been earmarked as the new premises for The Grange GP surgery which is currently based at the Montefiore Medical Centre in Dumpton Park Drive. East Cliff GPs, also at the Montefiore centre, will not be moving out of the premises and are hoping to expand the services they provide at the site.
The Grange says the current surgery building is no longer big enough to serve patients’ needs and does not have the space to be able to provide the clinical or administrative functions required to care for an increasing population.
Moving to the new site will double the floorspace of the practice and mean East Cliff GPs could potentially expand services at the Ramsgate site. Discussions between East Cliff and Invicta Health are expected to take place to look at this issue.
During a public event last year Julie Hill, Practice Manager and Non Clinical Partner at The Grange, explained how the new surgery would have more space for staff, patients, better seating and bathroom facilities, and room for group consultations. There would also be increased capacity for services including physiotherapy and ultrasound and minor surgery as well as room for other health organisations and groups and possible shared facilities with other GP surgeries.
The surgery’s diabetic lead Dr Fraser Newton, who currently has to work one day a week from home as well as completing admin away from the surgery, previously said: “Having a purpose built, more modern building will mean having different services that we can’t do now.
“We are looking at developing and improving the diabetic service and having group consultations. We will pilot the diabetic group and then look at groups for conditions such as asthma and COPD.
“The room could also be used by the voluntary sector and other health organisations.”
There will also be an expanded ultra scan service, dermatology clinics and out-of-hospital clinics at the new site.
The Grange says all patients will remain on the books unless they choose to find a new doctor.
There are five surgeries in Ramsgate which between them cover the same area as The Grange and will take on patients according to capacity There would be a new catchment area for new patients at the Westwood site.
At the meeting last night Chris Pragnall, of Quinn Estates, said the proposal was a “unique opportunity to create a specialist health campus” with a number of other uses going “hand in hand.” He also pointed to the jobs that would be created by the nursery and the commercial element.
Quinn Estates says the commercial units would provide 120 jobs if all of the units were to be storage, 244 jobs if all of the units were to be industrial, and 715 jobs if all of the units were to be offices. The nursery is expected to employ seven staff. The extra care facility will provide 49 jobs and the care home another 100 jobs.
One concern raised at the meeting was how the site will be served in terms of a bus service. Currently the closest bus stops to the site are by the access at Sainsburys and Cllr Jenny Matterface pointed out there was just one service a day at that route, which connects to Minster and Canterbury.
A report to councillors says: “As part of the housing development on Eurokent, financial contributions were secured to provide a new bus, along with bus shelters, which will provide a bus stop option for this development.
“EuroKent housing secured a contribution to fund one additional bus, and new bus shelters. For this application it is again considered important to secure a proportionate financial contribution towards bus service improvements and/or prioritisation along the A256, which would enable the improvement of bus services along this corridor.”
Cllr Becky Wing said she was “90%” in favour of the development but had concerns over those Grange patients who may not be able to travel to Westwood and the impact on Grange and East Cliff patients plus the loss of access to scanning services at the Montefiore site.
She also questioned how the build would be phased. The plans say phase 1 would be delivered in the first 2 years and would include the medical facility and care home. Phase 2 would begin within the first 5 years and would include the assisted living, children’s nursery and commercial elements.
Councillors voted to defer and delegate the plan for approval by officers.
Following the meeting Mark Quinn, CEO and Chairman of Quinn Estates, said: “We are excited to gain planning permission for Thanet Health Campus, which marks our first development in Thanet. Not only will this be an exemplary health campus which will enhance the healthcare provision for local people, it also represents significant employment opportunities.
“Alongside the jobs created by the medical campus, there will also be a significant boost in employment from the commercial element of the scheme.
