Epsom Hospital Update
Priests Hill Emerges as New Site Alternative
Priests Hill, the open space next to NESCOT and Ewell East station has emerged as a surprise alternative for the proposed new hospital to serve the area. The site scores highly on the points system being used by the NHS to choose sites for the proposed new hospitals. But its location on green belt land makes it a highly problematic option.
Chris Grayling said of the news: "As you know, my very strong preference is to retain the existing Epsom Hospital, upgraded to provide a good acute hospital for the whole area. This has always seemed to me to make much better sense than investing at St Helier where there are three other major hospitals close by. To my frustration, though, the project team working on the future of local hospitals seems to have carried out its work in a way that favours a new build at St Helier. They have amassed a considerable amount of evidence against Epsom - evidence which I think is flawed, but will still be used to argue the case for the downgrading of Epsom Hospital when the final decisions are taken. They have done the same in relation to West Park, which has virtually been ruled out.
The one ray of light at the moment is that the strength of local opinion behind Epsom, and particularly the more than 25,000 people who signed the petition earlier in the summer, has forced the NHS to agree to do a feasibility study into the possibility of splitting Epsom away from St Helier. I strongly favour this option and our renewed campaign this autumn will be designed to reinforce local support for divorce.
However Priests Hill has emerged as an unexpected alternative. It would not be my first choice, since it does involve building on open space, and I will certainly not be campaigning for it. But to be frank, the way things are going at present, it may be our only option to keep a local hospital. If the NHS and the Government refused to contemplate a divorce between Epsom and St Helier, and are determined to press ahead with a single hospital for the area, it is clear that the only site that the NHS managers in charge of the project would even consider is Priests Hill.
I fear, therefore, that if we cannot win the battle for divorce, we may be left with a harsh choice - St Helier or Priests Hill. My own view is that Priests Hill could only be possible if the plan was to build the hospital on a small part of the site, close to Ewell East station. At the same time there would need to be proper arrangements to protect the rest of the site from development in perpetuity, possibly by handing it to the Surrey Wildlife Trust. Otherwise it would not be acceptable"
Priests Hill has been owned by a developer for a number of years, and has been the subject of numerous planning applications.
Go to Top
