Will Stansted residents every see their promised new health centre in Lower Street? The centre has had planning permission for over 13 months, but not a brick has yet been laid. Recent conversations I have held within and outside the NHS suggest cautious optimism; though it has to be said that has been the case for the past several years.

After numerous phone calls I have now spoken to Dr Susan Humphrey at the Stansted surgery, Alison Manton at the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, Anna Mitchell as the Essex office of NHS England, Peter Hilton of Hilton Properties Ltd. and John Stirling of AC Wealth Management. My current understanding of the situation is as follows:

1. The Stansted Doctors’ Practice has instructed Alison Manton to update their business plan for taking on and renting the proposed health centre premises;
2. The business plan is likely to be sent to the Essex office on NHS England by the end of November;
3. The business plan may be submitted to the national board of NHS England as early as December seeking approval to go ahead;
4. Hilton Properties Ltd is ready to sign a lease with the NHS after approval has been given. This may take place early in 2014;
5. Work on site may start in the 1^st quarter of 2014;
6. The earliest we can expect the centre to open is unlikely to be before spring 2015. If I can get a better estimate, I will update this bullet point.
7. Discussions with the district council over the design and capacity of the adjacent public car park have not yet resumed.

A Little Recent History

I started my latest quest for evidence of action at the end of October when I read a press claim from Newport that some people thought they have been hoodwinked by developer Pelham Structures, also the long-standing promoter of the Stansted health centre. The article which caught my attention was on the front page of the Walden Local of October 30th.  I posted this on my blog. The following week the paper printed a rebuttal from Mr Bill Bampton of Pelham Structures. I also received a threatening email from Mr Bampton for making “totally unfounded” suggestions about the delays to the Stansted project. I took down my earlier blog post pending further investigations of the situation.

In my earlier blog posting I questioned whether we might expect the Lower Street health centre to metamorphose into additional apartments if the commercial deal was not concluded. Such has been my scepticism and that of many of my constituents.

Mr Bampton was quoted as a project spokesperson in an article in the Dunmow & Stansted Observer of November 7^th shown below, placing the blame for the delay on the NHS. “…..getting them to move quickly is just not possible”, but adding “we are still optimistic”.

Dunmow & Stansted Observer 7th November 2013

I then heard from Mr John Stirling of a financial services company in Saffron Walden, which is advising Hilton Properties, the owners of the Lower Street site. Mr Stirling told me “I can confirm that Bill Bampton of Pelham Structures was involved….. until the grant of planning” but since October 2012 has no “contractual right or obligation to remain involved in the scheme”. I was confused by this but I also apologise for connecting him with the current delays with the Stansted project.

Mr Stirling added: “I can also say that your (blog) site is in my list of ‘must read’ sites now, and I look forward to a suitably inflammatory follow up to the article that you sadly felt it necessary to withdraw.  Of course I cannot promise never to be upset by anything you write, but I do fully support your right, or indeed obligation, to make noise and generate heat in order to bring light to a situation”.

I am pleased there is now a glimmer of light shining on and reflecting from the project. I will continue to generate heat (in an attempt to keep the light glowing) until the new health centre become operational!