Plans for new GP super surgery to go on display

[megilleland]

From The Hereford Times - 1st March 2018

Quote

PLANS for a new GP super surgery in Hereford will go on display to the public next week.

Work has been ongoing to look at the possibility of merging a number of doctors' practices in the city at a site close to the railway station.

And the new primary care hub would be the main surgery for patients who currently access GP services at Greyfriars Surgery, Moorfield House Surgery, Aylestone Hill Surgery and Sarum House.

The engagement event to display plans for the hub takes place next Thursday at Hereford Town Hall from 2.30pm to 7.30pm.

The Hereford Medical Group has been working in partnership with local healthcare property company, Prime and design team One Creative Environments Ltd (One) to develop the proposals for a modern, high quality building to provide patients with the best possible experience when accessing primary care services.

Representatives from the Hereford Medical Group, Prime and One will be on hand throughout to answer questions.

No booking is necessary and members of the public are welcome to pop in at any time.

Dr Andrew Watts said: “Our key priority is providing good quality medical care for our patients.

"Unfortunately our current premises are outdated and at full capacity and so are no longer suitable, which is why we need new purpose built accommodation.

"We are keen to share our plans with patients.”

Bob Smaylen, Development Director for Prime plc, added: “Using our expertise in delivering primary care facilities we are developing proposals which will provide high quality facilities that improve patient experience. We are looking forward to sharing these plans with local residents and hearing their feedback.”

 

[ragwert]

These plans are in advanced stages with the surgery to be located close to the Rail station.
The Five surgeries will merge together on 1st July 2018.
The five surgeries are :-
Greyfriars surgery
Quay House medical Centre
Moorfield House surgery
Cantilupe surgery & Sarum House surgery.

 

[Colin James]

You have missed off King Street and Bobblestock surgeries, we had a letter arrive this morning, this lists is:

 

Greyfriars Surgery
Moorfield House Surgery
Sarum House Surgery
Quay House Medical Centre
King St and Bobblestock Surgeries

 

[SON OF GRIDKNOCKER]

I'm all in favour of the basic concept of a Super Surgery, though I never really understood why the excellent walk-in centre at Asda had to close down. But why is this new building being fast-tracked? Do I spot the fingerprints of a smooth-talking design-and-build salesman at work here? I know they don't exactly move at the speed of light, but the dear old Hereford Civic Society usually make an effort to see that new public buildings that go up in the city are a cut above the bog standard mediocrity of most d&b operations. 

[Victor Wright]

Where will the new surgery be located?

[Mick]

6 hours ago, Victor Wright said:

Where will the new surgery be located?

I was wondering the very same thing?

[megilleland]

 

To approve the disposal of land by way of a 125 year lease adjacent to Hereford railway station to facilitate the development of a new healthcare centre.  The disposal of land will:

* Enable the delivery of new city centre healthcare hub
* Provide a new prominent building adjacent to the city link road and station
* Help deliver improved healthcare services in the city
* Provide a capital receipt

Recommendation(s)

That:

(a) the disposal by way of a 125 year lease of development land extending to approximately 1.155 acres (final area to be confirmed on detail site survey)  adjacent to Hereford railway station (as shown at appendix 1) to Prime (UK) Developments Ltd or a company within the Prime plc group of companies be approved conditional on:

* the development of the site as a new GP healthcare hub for Hereford  
* the lessee securing relevant planning permission   
* the purchaser agreeing lease terms with the GP’s  
* the development being completed within 3 years of the lease being completed
* adjustment of the purchase price to reflect any agreed abnormal development costs as identified following receipt of site investigation and further due diligence by the purchaser.

(b) the chief finance officer be authorised to agree the final sale price in the event of any identified abnormal development costs and complete the development agreement and subsequent lease on terms set out in this report to Prime (UK) Developments Ltd or a company within the Prime plc group.

5. The healthcare hub building will be approx. 2,750 m² over two/three storey’s with additional surface level car parking and would be the new main surgery for patients who currently access GP services at Greyfriars Surgery, Moorfield House Surgery, Aylestone Hill Surgery and Sarum House. It is anticipated that a planning application will be submitted on completion of the lease agreement. The purchasers have already undertaken pre-application consultation and the scheme is being refined to reflect comments received.

Details here and location map here:

Another example of continued privatisation of the NHS. Regarding the finance parts a) and b) above. Could this be the next Blueschool fiasco in the making?

[ragwert]

I have taken a few screen shots of the location of new super surgery which is adjacent to the train station & what will be a new Country bus station.
There will be 93 car park spaces including 9 disabled & two ambulance bays.

[Aylestone Voice]

https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/info/200142/planning_services/planning_application_search/details?id=181583&search=181583

 

[ragwert]

The original video showing what the various buildings up & down the Link Road could look like were impressive.
Now we have the reality of plain old boxes 

 

 

[Maggie May]

Sorry but I thought this area was to be a proper "transport Hub" . The bus station would relocate here, along with bike hire and a possible multi storey car park. This way buses, rail, bikes and cars would form a complete interchange.

I have heard this week that the County bus station on Commercial Road is to go, but to be replaced with a multi storey car park instead. Surely this site, next to the hospital would be a much better and safer location for the new GP surgery, with easy access to the hospital (you could push a wheelchair quicker to the hospital from there than to get an ambulance to the Link Road and out of the junctions to the hospital).

The decision this week (16.05.2018) seems to show this Decision details here .

What has happened to the Masterplan for this part of the City? The Canal basin with houses; trees, cycle paths,  an excellent transport hub/interchange to make transport accessible and easy for all and reduce car use, etc?  The Railway station is grade 2 listed and it is now facing onto a massive expanse of tarmac for no consideration of anyone outside of a car. The proposed buildings do nothing to enhance the setting of this listed building and welcome visitors to what was a beautiful city. Hereford Voice you did such a great job on rescuing the Bath Street offices from destruction and getting a development that enhances the area and delivers much needed housing. Can you mount another campaign to rescue this part of Hereford and get some sort of joined up thinking happening for our City?

These facilities are needed but they should be delivered in a properly planned way not a complete hotpotch of bits here and there and destroying our heritage rather than repurposing and enhancing it.

[ragwert]

1 hour ago, Maggie May said:

Sorry but I thought this area was to be a proper "transport Hub" . The bus station would relocate here, along with bike hire and a possible multi storey car park. This way buses, rail, bikes and cars would form a complete interchange.

I have heard this week that the County bus station on Commercial Road is to go, but to be replaced with a multi storey car park instead. Surely this site, next to the hospital would be a much better and safer location for the new GP surgery, with easy access to the hospital (you could push a wheelchair quicker to the hospital from there than to get an ambulance to the Link Road and out of the junctions to the hospital).

The decision this week (16.05.2018) seems to show this Decision details here .

What has happened to the Masterplan for this part of the City? The Canal basin with houses; trees, cycle paths,  an excellent transport hub/interchange to make transport accessible and easy for all and reduce car use, etc?  The Railway station is grade 2 listed and it is now facing onto a massive expanse of tarmac for no consideration of anyone outside of a car. The proposed buildings do nothing to enhance the setting of this listed building and welcome visitors to what was a beautiful city. Hereford Voice you did such a great job on rescuing the Bath Street offices from destruction and getting a development that enhances the area and delivers much needed housing. Can you mount another campaign to rescue this part of Hereford and get some sort of joined up thinking happening for our City?

These facilities are needed but they should be delivered in a properly planned way not a complete hotpotch of bits here and there and destroying our heritage rather than repurposing and enhancing it.

Bus station will be relocated here next to super surgery which in all fairness is a good place for the surgery to go.
I think they have also got it spot on with puting the new multi story on the bus station site.
I have also heard that there are plans for Drs & nurses to have concessionary passes at the new multi story car park,another good idea.

[Maggie May]

When the proposed student accommodation is built on the old Rockfield store site it does not appear to me that there will be much room left for a well designed bus station to allow them to turn/park and avoid conflict with passengers/cyclists/taxis, etc.

I choose to disagree on the location of this surgery and the quantity of car parking spaces (96). If located next to rail, bus, bike, etc why so many car parking spaces required? Morrisons is opposite so why yet another car park in this urban area? 

The height of this building next to the Victorian railway station just overwhelms the listed building and gives no sense of place. If this height is needed for a new GP surgery and is such a square modern box design, build it where the current bus station is by the new hospital (another modern design building). That way you wont need the ambulance parking bays either.

Where is the canal basin etc we were promised in the ESG masterplan? If that plan is no longer a template for the redevelopment of our city why dont we plan this area as part of the Hereford Area Plan? That way a proper urban transport network can be designed not the swathes of tarmac and no safe cycling delivered at vast cost by the City Link Road.

This area has already been destroyed at huge public expense by the City Link Road which has been correctly damned by Historic England for anyone arriving as a visitor to our city (Historic England Urban panel review Oct 2017 ). 

[ragwert]

3 hours ago, Maggie May said:

When the proposed student accommodation is built on the old Rockfield store site it does not appear to me that there will be much room left for a well designed bus station to allow them to turn/park and avoid conflict with passengers/cyclists/taxis, etc.

I choose to disagree on the location of this surgery and the quantity of car parking spaces (96). If located next to rail, bus, bike, etc why so many car parking spaces required? Morrisons is opposite so why yet another car park in this urban area? 

The height of this building next to the Victorian railway station just overwhelms the listed building and gives no sense of place. If this height is needed for a new GP surgery and is such a square modern box design, build it where the current bus station is by the new hospital (another modern design building). That way you wont need the ambulance parking bays either.

Where is the canal basin etc we were promised in the ESG masterplan? If that plan is no longer a template for the redevelopment of our city why dont we plan this area as part of the Hereford Area Plan? That way a proper urban transport network can be designed not the swathes of tarmac and no safe cycling delivered at vast cost by the City Link Road.

This area has already been destroyed at huge public expense by the City Link Road which has been correctly damned by Historic England for anyone arriving as a visitor to our city (Historic England Urban panel review Oct 2017 ). 

The student accommodation will be over the road next to Jewsons.
I agree with you about the look of the building,I will be putting my objection with planning application.
The bus station will be directly opposite train station and right next to super surgery & is quite a large area.
The canal basin will be directly behind Gibbs & Dandy timber merchants.
 

[Cambo]

I went to the consultation on these plans at the town hall I expressed that it look like a box & not very attractive!…if the design had the roof levels broken up & addsome sweeping curves then it might be more attractive?

 the architect said he would do that but in fact nothing on the plans have changed & this building is more in keeping with the industrial looking buildings across the road than the railway station building which is a shame really…no real thoughts has gone into the design but I don't think it's in the conservation area? so will be given the green light regardless of its ugly appearances.

[ragwert]

1 hour ago, Cambo said:

I went to the consultation on these plans at the town hall I expressed that it look like a box & not very attractive!…if the design had the roof levels broken up & addsome sweeping curves then it might be more attractive?

 the architect said he would do that but in fact nothing on the plans have changed & this building is more in keeping with the industrial looking buildings across the road than the railway station building which is a shame really…no real thoughts has gone into the design but I don't think it's in the conservation area? so will be given the green light regardless of its ugly appearances.

Totally agree,I love a good modern building but this looks terrible & out of place.
If it was to look like the building it was perceived to look like in the Link Road video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVZBNxuCGIY I'd have no problem.
 

[Cambo]

Here's some interesting architectural designed building in the former Soviet Union…some of them look pretty surreal…why can't we have something similar for this new super surgery?

 

Surreal Photos of Post-Soviet Architecture - National Geographic
https://apple.news/AD7YO_fBqSo2Oovpv2vZ42A

[Cambo]

Does anyone know how much money they've got to spend on building this new super surgery? As I'd like to compare this with the £ 4.6 million that Marlbrook school are getting towards extension & new carpark.

[ragwert]

6 hours ago, Cambo said:

Does anyone know how much money they've got to spend on building this new super surgery? As I'd like to compare this with the £ 4.6 million that Marlbrook school are getting towards extension & new carpark.

18 million Cambo.
Western power are installing the main power cables next week for this building so it looks like its going to be built.

[Cambo]

18 hours ago, ragwert said:

18 million Cambo.
Western power are installing the main power cables next week for this building so it looks like its going to be built.

£18 million & that's the best design they could come up with…I'd of expected an iconic building which would win awards for that much money shocking! 

[ragwert]

34 minutes ago, Cambo said:

£18 million & that's the best design they could come up with…I'd of expected an iconic building which would win awards for that much money shocking! 

Exactly.
The company that designed it has this message heading on its website main page.A world class company, known for creating joyful and inspirational environments .
https://www.oneltd.com/

[Denise Lloyd]

It's a form of euthanasia - if you are poorly and you arrive at that building you just get a whole lot worse - sorry sick I know.  It is incredibly dull and uninspired. Wonder what the Civic Society make of it

[ragwert]

15 hours ago, Denise Lloyd said:

It's a form of euthanasia - if you are poorly and you arrive at that building you just get a whole lot worse - sorry sick I know.  It is incredibly dull and uninspired. Wonder what the Civic Society make of it

They objected but not for the design

[Cambo]

Does anyone know who owns the land this super surgery is going to be built on!…is it the council or have they sold it on?if so how much for?

[megilleland]

On 16/05/2018 at 10:19, Aylestone Voice said:

https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/info/200142/planning_services/planning_application_search/details?id=181583&search=181583

Application form states Herefordshire Council own the land.

[SON OF GRIDKNOCKER]

The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum

Overnight, a well-organised gang of vandals broke into The Louvre in Paris and vandalised the priceless Mona Lisa, by indelibly lazer-printing a black moustache on her upper lip.

The Indian government has announced that, due to the extensive pollution damage to the marblework of the famous Taj Mahal monument, it has commissioned a consortium (led by former Carillion employees) to paint the facade in the national colours of orange and green.

In Washington, President Trump has tweeted that he is moving his official Presidential offices to Trump Towers, New York, and has written to Benjamin Netanyahu inviting him to set up a new Israeli Embassy in the White House.

Meanwhile in Hereford, the council has published plans to build a flat-roofed three-storey 'Super Surgery' directly in front of the city's iconic Grade II-listed Victorian railway station. "What finer introduction could there be for international visitors arriving by train, for such events as the Hay Literary Festival or the Three Choirs Festival, than to be confronted by a lumpen structure possessing all the architectural elan of a nuclear fall-out shelter," said a council spokesman.

[Cambo]

22 hours ago, megilleland said:

Application form states Herefordshire Council own the land.

Thanks megilleland 

so does this mean if planning is granted that the developers will then purchase the land? & if so how much for? 

I know the developers are building this, then renting it out to the surgeries going in there…does that mean it's there £18 million they are spending or is the government paying(i.e. us)? 

Does anyone know what these surgeries will paying in rent? I bet it won't be cheap!

[Maggie May]

This is not just a surgery it also includes a retail element (could be a pharmacy?) and an area for "expansion".

The plans also claim that this application will "increase green infrastructure" to the City Link Road. To me there is minimal "green infrastructure" being proposed when they are seeking so many car parking spaces albeit it is an improvement on the industrial expanse of tarmac where the canal basin should have gone! Another opportunity lost - this proposal bears no relation to what was being proposed as part of the whole ESG plans we were told about when this area was all to be developed   ESG Proposals here. These proposals were for a 21st century development putting cyclists/pedestrians above cars and providing park & ride and bus services, from a new bus station alongside the railway station. Can nothing of this vision be salvaged?

The entrance to this large car park will also sever what was supposed to be a protected cycleway. The design does nothing to enhance the setting of the railway station and the proposed "transport hub" in the pictures in the design and access statement make this look no more than a few modern bus shelters - what about bike hire? Taxis? AS the application says "the transport hub (design unknown)" Why? I thought the transport hub was an integral part of the City Link Road project and was supposed to be delivered if not designed by now.  

Whilst I welcome in theory this larger health centre I still believe it is in the wrong place, is an unacceptable design and will mean even more of the opportunities that Cllr Roger Phillips waxed so lyrically. AS the ESG says "Roger Phillips, Leader of Herefordshire Council, which instigated the development scheme, said, “Herefordshire Council recognises the important economic, environmental and cultural impacts the project will have, both on the city and the county. Opportunities to redevelop a major part of an historic market city are very rare and I urge everyone to examine and comment on the Masterplan, the success of which is so vital to the future of our county.”

I see that a Jeremy Milln has made a very detailed objection, making reference to the Historic England report and condemning the design and location.

[ragwert]

1 hour ago, Maggie May said:

This is not just a surgery it also includes a retail element (could be a pharmacy?) and an area for "expansion".

The plans also claim that this application will "increase green infrastructure" to the City Link Road. To me there is minimal "green infrastructure" being proposed when they are seeking so many car parking spaces albeit it is an improvement on the industrial expanse of tarmac where the canal basin should have gone! Another opportunity lost - this proposal bears no relation to what was being proposed as part of the whole ESG plans we were told about when this area was all to be developed   ESG Proposals here. These proposals were for a 21st century development putting cyclists/pedestrians above cars and providing park & ride and bus services, from a new bus station alongside the railway station. Can nothing of this vision be salvaged?

The entrance to this large car park will also sever what was supposed to be a protected cycleway. The design does nothing to enhance the setting of the railway station and the proposed "transport hub" in the pictures in the design and access statement make this look no more than a few modern bus shelters - what about bike hire? Taxis? AS the application says "the transport hub (design unknown)" Why? I thought the transport hub was an integral part of the City Link Road project and was supposed to be delivered if not designed by now.  

Whilst I welcome in theory this larger health centre I still believe it is in the wrong place, is an unacceptable design and will mean even more of the opportunities that Cllr Roger Phillips waxed so lyrically. AS the ESG says "Roger Phillips, Leader of Herefordshire Council, which instigated the development scheme, said, “Herefordshire Council recognises the important economic, environmental and cultural impacts the project will have, both on the city and the county. Opportunities to redevelop a major part of an historic market city are very rare and I urge everyone to examine and comment on the Masterplan, the success of which is so vital to the future of our county.”

I see that a Jeremy Milln has made a very detailed objection, making reference to the Historic England report and condemning the design and location.

 

On 22/05/2018 at 17:31, Cambo said:

I went to the consultation on these plans at the town hall I expressed that it look like a box & not very attractive!…if the design had the roof levels broken up & addsome sweeping curves then it might be more attractive?

 the architect said he would do that but in fact nothing on the plans have changed & this building is more in keeping with the industrial looking buildings across the road than the railway station building which is a shame really…no real thoughts has gone into the design but I don't think it's in the conservation area? so will be given the green light regardless of its ugly appearances.

If they refused two atm machines because they looked 'out of place'  on the Old Market then I'm sure they can refused this ugly building for same reason.

[SON OF GRIDKNOCKER]

Re Maggie May's excellent comment above, the official definition of Green Infrastructure is: "The concept, in land-use planning terms, which highlights the natural environment."

Quite apart from the fact that contractors needlessly felled a number of mature trees which stood beside the old W H Smith depot; and the fact that not a single tree was planted along the 800 metres of the absurd Link Road to Nowhere; I have been unable to identify anything whatsoever in the visuals of the box-like Super Surgery which indicates that anyone involved in this project has the slightest interest in the natural environment!