Former Rossendale General Hospital site 'can't be saved' (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Former Rossendale General Hospital site 'can't be saved'

9:39am Thursday 9th February 2012 in Rossendale By Peter Magill, Chief reporter

A LANDMARK former hospital in East Lancashire is beyond preservation because of water damage, according to developers.

But the claims over the old Rossendale General Hospital have been greeted with dismay by conservationists in the valley.

Housing giant Taylor Wimpey says an investigation by their structural engineers shows the hospital building, a former workhouse dating back to the 1860s, is affected by ‘serious water damage’ and later modifications.

The company is behind £20million proposals to build 170 new homes in the hospital’s grounds after the old wards have been bulldozed.

A Taylor Wimpey spokesman said: “The report is clear and decisive in its conclusions. We have exhausted the options.”

Preserving the building would result in the project running at a £3.5million loss, the firm has insisted.

Kathy Fishwick, of Rossendale Civic Society, said her group was exploring the possibility of commissioning an independent structural survey of the hospital buildings.

“We are going to work our socks off to save this building ” she added.

An offer of retaining the two stone domes from the summit of the main building, within a landscape feature on the ground, has been derided as ‘unacceptable’.

Rossendale MP Jake Berry has also voiced opposition to the plans.

Kathy will be collecting protest signature sat Rawtenstall Market on Saturday and Weaver’s Cottage, Bacup Road, on Sunday.