Christchurch Hospital

I was delighted to hear that CBC and Bournemouth Hospital Trust have commenced a dialogue to resolve the design issues which resulted in the Christchurch Planning Committee refusing the detailed and outline permission sought at the last meeting. Those who have heard me talk about this matter know how strongly I feel that a medical facility should be sustained on the site and commissioned to continue to serve the expectations of the community, indeed I blogged some weeks ago about this very issue. Equally the Borough deserves the highest quality of architectural design for new buildings as this area is an important gateway site. I made my opinion quite clear to Council in a recent statement about the hospital merger indicating that although the real estate was a Hospital Trust asset, the hospital and all that it means was very much in the heart of Christchurch as a community and that should be as much an objective as maximising the development return of the site. I await the results of the latest discussions with great interest.