Market site could be sold off in new health centre deal (From Echo)

Market site could be sold off in new health centre deal

12:00pm Monday 1st March 2010 in

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Wickford market could be sold and moved to make way for a new £16.8millionhealth centre.

Basildon Council has unveiled plans to sell off the council-owned site, which has been home to the market for more than 30 years.

It hopes the primary care trust will build a new health centre on the land, which is just over an acre in size.

At the same time councillors want to buy a neighbouring piece of land, of around the same size also in Market Road, where the existing health centre is.

The council will then lease the centre back to the health bosses, so patients have somewhere to go while they wait for the new facilities to be built.

It is not clear where the market will go although the High Street seems the prefered option.

The move was announced after the Echo revealed yesterday how the council’s £100million plan to rebuild Wickford town centre had been abandoned until further notice because the bidder pulled out.

However Stephen Horgan, councillor in charge of regeneration, stressed: “The number one issue in Wickford is healthcare and we’ll do anything we can to facilitate the provision of better healthcare in the town.

“We need to move quickly so it can be sorted as soon as possible.”

Council leader Tony Ball said the move showed, despite the recent setback, the council was still committed to regenerating the town.

He said: “We’ve closed one chapter of the regeneration of Wickford, and hopefully with this opportunity another chapter is opening.”

During the special cabinet meeting which was called to discuss the plan, Mr Ball explained haste was needed as the PCT only has until April 1 to get the health centre project moving.

If it doesn’t sign contracts with contractors by then, it will lose the chance to bid for Government funding.

He also assured councillors a new home would be found for the market, and every effort would be made to make sure it was not forced to close for any length of time.

According to Wickford councillor Malcolm Buckley, a move would benefit market traders and shoppers.

He said: “At the moment the market is tucked away and hidden. If you didn’t know it was there you could go to the High Street and never find it.”

However, Lib Dem councillor Ben Williams accused the Tory administration of rushing through the plan to save face after the collapse of the Wickford Masterplan.

He said: “I am not convinced by this scramble to rescue something. That’s how it appears. I just wish we’d taken a few more days on this.”