Call for new healthcare approach at Central Bedfordshire Council
Piece of CBC-owned land south of the High Street "really important" to progress joint neighbourhood health centre and community facility for Leighton Buzzard, meeting told.
A parcel of land south of the High Street in Leighton Buzzard should be allocated at “a peppercorn rent” for a multi-purpose neighbourhood health centre and community facility, a meeting heard.
Giving community groups the certainty of the use of the land would enable them to apply for external funding for such a building, according to non-aligned Independent Leighton Linslade West councillor Victoria Harvey.
Presenting a motion to Central Bedfordshire Council’s Leighton-Linslade partnership committee, she urged colleagues from across the political spectrum “to find a practical way forward on health” locally.
Calling for a new approach, she described a land offer by CBC as “really important, as empty premises in Leighton Buzzard town centre can cost about £40,000 a year to rent”.
Spending additionally “hundreds of thousands of pounds on renovation work, isn’t attractive to a cash-strapped NHS”, she told the local democracy reporting service after the meeting.
“What’s the point of asking for a neighbourhood health centre, if there’s nowhere to put it and CBC isn’t offering any land?” she asked.
“Without the chance of the necessary funding from the NHS and the local authority, we need to work with the community to access significant funding elsewhere. To achieve this, we want CBC to grant a small area of land south of the High Street.
“There’s an urgent need for affordable community space, a big meeting hall, an exhibition and performance area, and skills training offer in the town centre, which could cater for art and craft as well as musical activities, and other events for young people.
“It’s ridiculous that in a town of 42,000 people, we only have a telephone box as an exhibition space and that was created by the community. It’s also really important to design a building that can pay for itself.
“Conference facilities can be rented out to business, which then pays for the maintenance of the building and a manager. Such a location would include rooms that the NHS could use rent free, with the maintenance of the building covered, and would reduce travel time for local residents.
“South Side Studios raised the money to use a national arts organisation to prepare a report to show that this is financially feasible. This would be a much more attractive proposition for the Central East integrated care board (ICB) than having to buy land, to build from scratch and to cover all its own costs.”
A neighbourhood health centre linked with community facilities, including a heritage and arts centre building, “will increase footfall into the town centre supporting the High Street and market”, she explained.
“Councillors unanimously voted this committee recommends to CBC and Leighton-Linslade Town Council that part of the land south of the High Street should be allocated at a peppercorn rent for a joint neighbourhood health centre, with a community, cultural and skills, and conference centre.
“That would allow community groups to have the certainty of the use of the land, enabling them to apply for external funding for such a premises.”
SOURCE: Central Bedfordshire Council Leighton-Linslade partnership committee agenda, and email from CBC councillor.