The new surgery story continues ….. and this time it appears to be good news!!
Most of you reading this article will no doubt remember all of the positive talk a few years back about the prospects for a new doctors’ surgery in St Day and you will probably also remember that these plans appeared to have been scuppered when the Day Lewis pharmacy group gained permission from NHS England to open a pharmacy in the former Fish and Chip shop in Scorrier Street. In spite of the benefits which having a pharmacy in St Day would bring it would also have meant that the doctors would not have been able to dispense medicines from a new surgery, being too close to a pharmacy, and the loss of income from this would have meant that the surgery would not have been viable. It would very likely have also meant that the existing surgery would have had to close, leaving St Day with no surgery at all.
St Day Parish Council, with the support of the local surgeries and many residents, organised the opposition to the new pharmacy which culminated in a public meeting with all concerned. Fortunately. at the public meeting, the Day Lewis group was made fully aware of the opposition to its proposal and, under great pressure, withdrew its plan.
Since then a great deal of discussion has been going on in the background between St Day Parish Council, the Carn to Coast surgery and a local charity and we are now able to tell you that the WJ Mills (Cottages) Trust has agreed to buy the vacant plot of land at the top of the new Mineral Way development on Telegraph Hill and that the Trust is having plans drawn up to build a doctors’ surgery there. Negotiations are currently taking place with the Carn to Coast surgery to reach an agreement for them to rent the premises. There will then be much discussion between the trustees, the local planning authority and the partners of the Carn to Coast practice to agree a suitable design but it is very much hoped that a planning application can be submitted before the end of this year with a view to work commencing some time in 2019 on a new surgery, provided that planning permission is granted. The prospects are looking good, however we thought they were before the Day Lewis group intervened so we need to proceed with caution.
We are very grateful to the trustees of the WJ Mills (Cottages) Trust for rescuing this idea at a point when all seemed lost and, if successful, it will mean that the Trust, which already provides 42 properties for rent in St Day, is able to provide even further support for a wider cross section of the residents of this parish. We are also grateful to the Temple family who have held on to the plot of land and did not sell it for affordable housing because they wanted to see a new surgery built there for everyone in St Day.
Hopefully we will now be in a position to give you regular updates!
