New health centre gets go-ahead
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
22/07/2008
Plans to bring a brand new state-of-the-art health centre and over 170 new homes to Hammersmith and Fulham were given the go-ahead last week (Tuesday July 15) at the council's planning applications committee.
The multi-million pound centre will be built in Bloemfontein Road in the White City, on a site which includes the former Janet Adegoke Centre on Bloemfontein Road and part of Wormholt Park. It will also incorporate existing buildings that currently house social services on Sawley Road.
The transformation of this unused space is part of the council and Primary Care Trust’s vision of Hammersmith & Fulham as a borough of opportunity for all – helping solve problems of poor health that often hold back people in that part of the borough and also offering residents a foot on the property ladder.
The move comes following years of consultation with local people, residents’ associations and other groups in the area. The building will be split into very distinct areas with retail and office space to the south, the health centre to the north and housing on the floors above.
Dr Dagmar Zeuner, joint Director of Public Health for the council and PCT, said: “It is no secret that residents in the area have the poorest health in the borough. This new facility will pave the way for a better and healthier future for so many people. The improved park area and new retail & housing that come with the project will also have a positive impact bringing new jobs, and new open spaces for people to use.
“It’s excellent news that the planning permission has been approved. Next we have to get the diggers on site and get the doors open as soon as possible.”
Council Leader Stephen Greenhalgh said: “The people of White City have been waiting for a new health centre for many years. Now they will have a first class centre offering top rate care and they deserve to reap the fantastic benefits that it will bring.”
The centre will house GPs, dentists, a pharmacy and a range of other services such as podiatry, day surgery, district nurses and health visitors under one roof. There will also be mental health, radiology, and speech and language services. The building will also have offices for social services and an IT café and community hub.
There will also be 179 apartments, almost 40 per cent of which fall under the banner of affordable homes. Twenty of these are flats for wheelchair users.
Wormholt Park, which will be seen from the health centre’s modern wide glass window, will also get a facelift as part of the development. It will be preened and pruned and undergo extensive landscaping, with a new children’s play park, sports and recreational area and contemporary sheltered garden.
Cllr Greenhalgh added: “This is yet another example of how the plans put residents first and fall into the council’s parks strategy to breathe new life into the borough’s parks and open spaces. Not only will there be excellent health care and housing provision, but Wormholt Park and the surrounding area will be reinvigorated."
