Care Home Proposal For Vacant Bewley Land in Ash

Published on: 16 Dec, 2024
Updated on: 16 Dec, 2024

The Ash site that had been earmarked for a medical facility

By David Reading

Bewley Homes is in negotiation with a company that has expressed an interest in opening and running a care home on the plot of land in Ash that had been set aside by the developers in 2019 for healthcare purposes.

The 2019 agreement between Bewley and Guildford Borough Council stipulated that the land, on the new Ash Lodge Park estate, had to be used for healthcare purposes to meet the need created by the local housing boom.

A time limit of five years was set for this to happen after which the land can revert to Bewley. That period has now passed, but Bewley says it has no interest in taking the land back for housing and is pursuing the care home proposal. The development company said that for five years it had attempted to find a medical use for the site but without success.

Bewley has told The Guildford Dragon NEWS that it is not in a position yet to issue a formal statement but revealed that the care home proposal is being discussed with a private company working in that field.

In October this year, The Dragon revealed that a consortium of GPs had expressed an interest in building and running a general practice surgery on the site.

The aim was to meet the additional need for primary care services created by the large number of homes that have been built – and are still being built – in the Ash and Tongham area.

But NHS Frimley rejected the proposal, insisting that the best way to meet the area’s increase in population will be to invest in the existing GP services rather than by building a new surgery. A statement said this was being achieved by expanding the number of consulting rooms at the two practices serving the area – the Bartlett Group with surgeries in Ash Vale and Frimley Green and the Border Practice across the county border in Rushmoor. Both practices “are seeking to increase their workforce”, a statement said.

Other options for the land in question have been discussed, including opening a private nursery and a dental practice. No agreement was reached on either of those options.

Bewley says it will issue a formal statement on the care home proposal when the time is right.

Contacted by The Guildford Dragon, the area’s newly-elected MP, Jeremy Hunt, has commented on both the future of healthcare in the Ash area and the future of the Bewley site.

He said primary healthcare in Ash and Tongham was high on the agenda for many local people during the 2024 General Election campaign,

Mr Hunt, who is MP for Godalming and Ash, said that since the election, he had held productive meetings with heads at the Bartlett Group Practice and with Fiona Edwards, CEO of NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB). He said a new system at the Bartlett surgeries was working successfully.

He said: “It’s clear that Bartlett Group want to expand capacity at their existing sites, and state they have no intention or need to move to the Ash Lodge Drive site. Bartlett’s new ‘Rapid Health’ triage and booking system went online just a few weeks ago and this is working successfully to manage demand. Fiona echoed my view that community use would be preferable to giving the site back to the developer for additional housing.”

Mr Hunt said he had also had contact with senior people at GBC, including CEO Pedro Wrobel, and was awaiting clarification on certain points relating to the S106 agreement (the agreement between GBC and Bewley) and the future use for the Ash site.

Mr Hunt concluded: “I think we are all in agreement that the worst-case scenario for local people would be this is offered up for further residential development, so I will continue my mission to ensure this doesn’t happen.”

GBC said that Bewley has reaffirmed its commitment to deliver a suitable use for the site.

Cllr Fiona White (Lib Dem, Ash Wharf), lead councillor for Planning, said: “The council and the developer have discussed the possibility of a healthcare facility on the site with the local ICB. The ICB have confirmed to us on multiple occasions that they would not be supportive of a healthcare facility in this location. The developer has also marketed the site for a more general healthcare use. Unfortunately, this did not result in any serious expressions of interest.

“While this is disappointing, the council is in continual dialogue with the developer and they have reaffirmed their commitment to us to deliver a suitable use on this site. What that use may look like is still to be decided.

“We previously explained that we were expecting to receive a request from Frimley ICB for the release of S106 funds totalling £178,449. They have so far requested £71,736 of these contributions, which should be released to them shortly.”