Buckshaw not preferred site for mental health hospital

2:20pm Friday 29th February 2008

Comments (5)   Have your say »

A new super mental health hospital looks set to be sited at Ribbleton, Preston, and not Buckshaw Village as many residents had feared.

Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust chose Ribbleton Hospital, in Miller Road, as the preferred site, over Buckshaw and the former Sharoe Green Hospital, in Fulwood.

The Trust acknowledged that the negative response to the Buckshaw Village proposal was taken into consideration along with a number of other aspects including size, transport links and general site suitability. It was the second choice of the Trust.

The Sharoe Green site did not meet the requirements on the grounds that it was to small.

The Trust will now start drawing up plans for the site and then submit planning applications.

It will also decide on how the unit, along with three others in the county, are to be funded.

The plan is to close the 15 existing mental health facilities, which the Trust say are not fit for purpose, and replace them with four new specialist units in Central and East Lancashire areas, the Fylde and in the north of the country.

Chief executive Finlay Robertson said: "We expect to invest around £150 million to provide the new units.

This is the first time that mental health services in the county have seen investment on such a scale.

I am delighted that we are now on the way to providing accommodation that is up to the standard that people using our services deserve.

"The new units will be designed to create a therapeutic environment with access to garden space and fresh air.

This is very important to a person's recovery and we will be making sure that we listen to the people that use our services so that the new units meet their needs."

A series of meetings are to be held to give residents the chance to comment on proposals.

Royal Albert Fields, Lancaster and Wyndyke Farm, Blackpool have also been confirmed as sites for two of the other three units, with negotiations between the Trust and Burnley Borough Council ongoing with regards to a site on the Shuttleworth Mead Industrial Estate which is favoured for the East Lancashire unit.