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Havens hospice plan set for rejection again (From Echo)
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Havens hospice plan set for rejection again
8:23am Thursday 11th October 2012 in News
Havens hospice plan set for rejection again
CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a £15million hospice on green belt land look set to collapse for the second time.
Planning officers at Southend Council have recommended councillors reject Havens Hospices’ bid to develop a Salvation Army site, off Belton Way West, Leigh, when they meet on Wednesday next week.
Havens believed its proposals, which are almost a carbon copy of the first planning bid submitted last year, were likely to be given the green light by the council.
But officers argued the charity had skewed its logic in choosing the Belton Way site and called for it to consider expanding its Little Havens children’s hospice site, in Thundersley, instead.
Havens bosses said they were “bitterly disappointed” with the assessment on their proposals and accused planning officers of reneging on agreements.
Andy Smith, the charity’s chief executive, urged councillors to ignore the officers’ recommendation, when they sit down to pass a final judgment on the plans next week.
He claimed the hospice had held several meetings with planning officers, in which they had advised extending the search to green belt sites.
He added: “We feel extremely let down by the officers.
“So much of the report fails to reflect agreements made with them, in meetings over the past ten months.
“It’s as if they didn’t happen. We have done everything they asked of us and cannot understand why the planning officers have not stood by their agreements.”
Comments are closed on this article.
Comments (67)
9:47am Thu 11 Oct 12
r6keith says...
9:50am Thu 11 Oct 12
Elephantman2 says...
11:04am Thu 11 Oct 12
perini says...
11:40am Thu 11 Oct 12
RobertFS says...
there are now 41 unsuitable sites
11:53am Thu 11 Oct 12
v.randy says...
Sick of the coverage and constant whinning ,move on
12:22pm Thu 11 Oct 12
akatmando says...
12:45pm Thu 11 Oct 12
r6keith says...
1:06pm Thu 11 Oct 12
Eric Whim says...
1:07pm Thu 11 Oct 12
naffeville says...
1:41pm Thu 11 Oct 12
al coniston says...
2:52pm Thu 11 Oct 12
BigmouthStrikesAgain says...
pices.org.uk/about_u
s/new-fair-havens-ho
spice/faqs
2:56pm Thu 11 Oct 12
BigmouthStrikesAgain says...
http://publicedrms.s
outhend.gov.uk/Plann
ing/lg/GFPlanningDoc
uments.page
4:37pm Thu 11 Oct 12
al coniston says...
4:52pm Thu 11 Oct 12
dizzy15 says...
This is a Hospice that we are dealing with, not emotional blackmail; simply fact.
The comments make me reflect on the state of peoples mindsets, its amazing how house prices are such a lead on peoples behaviour.
5:09pm Thu 11 Oct 12
Lamur1 says...
I experienced the hospice first hand in April. My grandad died there. We were lucky enough to get a bed there (only because someone else was still able to walk upstairs to another room). Had this had not happened my grandad would have died in pain.
This proposed site is pretty much opposite the dump and is near the train station. Oh what a massive eyesore a hospice would be....
5:14pm Thu 11 Oct 12
Lamur1 says...
6:33pm Thu 11 Oct 12
Lidsp2012 says...
would have been the best location in the area. I really hope that you recognise how much a new hospice is needed and appreciate the fact that it is more important to help a dying person and their family have a better final journey than preserve a piece of land that is covered with syringes and is NOT an area of natural beauty.
6:42pm Thu 11 Oct 12
andy:) says...
6:45pm Thu 11 Oct 12
andy:) says...
You have not evidence that flats will eventually be built there, no-one is denying the great work Havens do, but they should go back to their list of sites and change the criteria that clearly rules them all out.
6:49pm Thu 11 Oct 12
andy:) says...
You may believe its a great site, indeed it is..it doesnt need ruining by building a huge hospice/conference centre/office.
Andy
7:25pm Thu 11 Oct 12
dizzy15 says...
7:54pm Thu 11 Oct 12
Alan Robbo says...
8:06pm Thu 11 Oct 12
andy:) says...
Anyway Im sure the Councillors will see sense, this was a dumb decision by Havens and they have wasted money by making the second application, as the Echo editorial points out, its time to move on, forget this position and move forward to a suitable non-green belt site that everyone can support and get behind.
8:08pm Thu 11 Oct 12
andy:) says...
8:29pm Thu 11 Oct 12
shortman says...
Land Opposite Cemetery, Hockley Road Rayleigh:
“Has a sense of symmetry but not much sensitivity”
List of sites reviewed, but not for sale:
Seaway Car Park
Land at Southchurch Avenue / Marine Parade
The Golden Mile
Land East of Canvey Road
Land South of Essex Way
Land North East of Hadleigh
Football pitch West Canvey
Land West of Glebelands
Land South of Charfleets
Land North West of Essex Way
The Triangle , West Canvey
Land Northwest of Northwich Road
Land at 164 – 240 Daws Heath Road
Eldon Way Industrial Estate - Not available
Stambridge Mills Mill Lane Stambridge - Not available
Land at Morrisons, Western Approaches – Not available
Land at Pond Chase Nurseries - Not vacant
Former Ekco Works – “ not sure about true availability”
Land North of the Chase - Unlikely to be available for 5 to 10 years
Not big enough:
Castle Road Recycling Centre, Rayleigh
Land to South of Back Lane Car Park
Scrub Land
9:31pm Thu 11 Oct 12
Lamur1 says...
Also, elsewhere in the borough aren't we expecting a new football stadium and shopping complex all on green belt land? Issues of priorities. Or does this not concern you as it isn't 'in your backyard' as some have been saying?
9:40pm Thu 11 Oct 12
Lamur1 says...
11:00pm Thu 11 Oct 12
EJM Southend says...
9:46am Fri 12 Oct 12
Olivia2847 says...
12:20pm Fri 12 Oct 12
perini says...
12:22pm Fri 12 Oct 12
perini says...
12:24pm Fri 12 Oct 12
perini says...
1:21pm Fri 12 Oct 12
onegreatjohnny says...
Tree-shielded and landscaped with the footpath unaffected it would actually enhance this area, just as has been done with Little Havens in Thundersley.
A small local clique of Nimbys wielding local political influence way beyond their numbers must not be allowed to stop us getting such a valuable community service for the Borough at a spot so obviously best suited to its needs in the round.
2:06pm Fri 12 Oct 12
Lidsp2012 says...
The location is also very central and has good transport links for relatives to visit their loved ones.
Please can people show some compassion as we are talking about human beings. Havens have looked at may other sites and this is the only suitable place.
2:08pm Fri 12 Oct 12
perini says...
2:26pm Fri 12 Oct 12
jolllyboy says...
2:28pm Fri 12 Oct 12
onegreatjohnny says...
1) Additions to existing agricultural buildings.
2) Outdoor sporting facilities.
3) Affordable housing.
Not to mention roads, railways, airports and shopping malls of renown etc.
OK there’s no money to speak of for the Council in this above and beyond normal rateable values as is the case in so much of what they do allow … but there is huge community value and the very special circumstances thereof.
Furthermore, I believe that the landscaped gardens of this hospice would actually stand guard against unwarranted profit-seeking development that the Council normally favours hereabouts in
what is certainly a special place.
Knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing springs to mind here.
4:03pm Fri 12 Oct 12
BigmouthStrikesAgain says...
The legacies left to the hospice where specifically left to fund the design and build of a new hospice. I know that, by law, a charity cannot use funds allocated for a specific reason for anything else...so either way the money was always going to go on this!
4:06pm Fri 12 Oct 12
BigmouthStrikesAgain says...
4:59pm Fri 12 Oct 12
Lamur1 says...
6:34pm Fri 12 Oct 12
APR says...
That did cross my mind.
It would be nice to have a good view, but not essential. The existing Havens and Little Havens don't have particularly good views.
10:00pm Fri 12 Oct 12
HK9597 says...
They say there isn't anything else available and they need to move quickly. Well time will tell and I will be surprised if another location isn't found soon. Unless they want to throw good money after bad and lodge another appeal.
Stop wasting time and money and focus your energy on finding a location you will be able to build on. There is one out there!
11:57pm Fri 12 Oct 12
shortman says...
“Land Registry documents obtained by the Echo show Havens Development Company, a subsidiary set up to oversee the building of the new hospice, signed an option agreement with the Salvation Army on July 27, 2010”.
It has often been stated that they “promised no decision would be taken before an authoritative search for alternatives had been completed”.
That contract for an option was finalised three months before the charity began a search of 80 possible sites, which it claimed led to its decision to select the Leigh green belt land for its plans.
9:01am Sat 13 Oct 12
shortman says...
2:20pm Sat 13 Oct 12
Lamur1 says...
4:30pm Sat 13 Oct 12
j-w says...
But that green belt land has already been compromised.
5:10pm Sat 13 Oct 12
shortman says...
5:14pm Sat 13 Oct 12
shortman says...
5:31pm Sat 13 Oct 12
Alan Robbo says...
Did Tesco not build on Green belt land, has not the Car sales showrooms built on Green Belt land (cheery orchard way), and as for the new Southend Football ground, ho yes GREEN BELT!
I believe all the new buildings in and around Southend in the last few years have been on Green Belt land.
Also, Waitrose, Wellesley hospital, Maplin, Ets, YES WAS GREEN BELT.
6:59pm Sat 13 Oct 12
shortman says...
7:02pm Sat 13 Oct 12
shortman says...
7:34pm Sat 13 Oct 12
Lamur1 says...
7:49pm Sat 13 Oct 12
shortman says...
8:54pm Sat 13 Oct 12
HK9597 says...
9:32pm Sat 13 Oct 12
v.randy says...
There is little appetite for building more.
And now the whole Jimmy Saville business has come to light I think more of us will look after our love ones at home where we can keep an eye on them.
10:45pm Sun 14 Oct 12
APR says...
The Echo is a bit touchy on the subject. The editorial staff must all have "Jim'll Fix It" badges ?
4:06pm Mon 15 Oct 12
BigmouthStrikesAgain says...
9:41pm Mon 15 Oct 12
shortman says...
10:09am Tue 16 Oct 12
Dapper Dave says...
10:44am Tue 16 Oct 12
Dapper Dave says...
10:53am Tue 16 Oct 12
Dapper Dave says...
4:23pm Tue 16 Oct 12
shortman says...
4:27pm Tue 16 Oct 12
shortman says...
4:31pm Tue 16 Oct 12
shortman says...
5:13pm Tue 16 Oct 12
David Crown says...
6:15pm Tue 16 Oct 12
perini says...
12:33pm Wed 17 Oct 12
foxy108 says...