End of an era for Lucy Baldwin site as housing plans approved (From Kidderminster Shuttle)
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End of an era for Lucy Baldwin site as housing plans approved
9:12am Wednesday 13th March 2013 in News
By William Tomaney
A LANDMARK former Stourport hospital will be demolished to make way for 41 homes, after plans were given the green light.
Councillors on Wyre Forest District Council’s planning committee at a meeting last night admitted they could find no planning reason to refuse Taylor Wimpey’s application, as they had last November.
It will see the site’s main building knocked down and construction of 38 new houses and three flats in the existing lodge building. The Lucy Baldwin plaque will be retained at the site.
The committee’s main concerns were access to the site at the narrow Olive Grove, although planning officer Paul Round said opening up the Lucy Baldwin site would allow residents to turn their cars around.
Plans will see access from the north and south of the site but Conservative Stourport Town councillor John Holden urged the committee to consider a one-way gyratory highway system.
Independent Community and Health Concern (ICHC) councillor Nigel Thomas objected to the plans, saying the land had been “stolen from the people of Stourport” referring to a covenant, which has since been removed, placed on the land in 1931.
Liberal councillor Fran Oborski said, however: “This site has got to be developed. We cannot afford to have what is a relatively valuable site in a residential area just lying there decaying and rotting.”
ICHC councillor Liz Davies, born at the hospital, said she was disappointed it would not be put back into use as a community care facility but glad more than £200,000 would be given in education, highway and open space contributions as part of approval.
The site will also contain 29.3 per cent affordable housing.
Conservative councillor Marcus Hart said just two letters of objection had been received by planners and none were about highways.
“There were vehicles using it previously and there would be vehicles using it in whatever future usage it would have,” he added.
Lucy Baldwin Hospital was opened on April 16, 1929, by then Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and named after his wife but has fallen victim to vandalism since closing in 2006.
Comments(35)
kjb1
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10:34am Wed 13 Mar 13
stour67
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12:55pm Wed 13 Mar 13
The Egg
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1:57pm Wed 13 Mar 13
FranOb
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2:07pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Would you really rather see it left empty and houses put on greenfield sites?
Local residents did not put in objections.
I would have preferred a nursing home type use but no one has come forward to use it for that purpose.
£200,000 will help develop local facilities and with nearly 30% social housing this will help local people!
fizzlywizzly
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2:49pm Wed 13 Mar 13
pottery1
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3:21pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Councillor Helen Dyke
pottery1
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3:56pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Cllr Helen Dyke
jon cooper
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3:57pm Wed 13 Mar 13
What is even more bizarre is that the councillor who cannot see any problem with the projected congestion in the Olive Grove area, seems to quite adamant in standing firm against any development on Naylors Field, (his patch), in Kidderminster. Although Councillor Hart has taken the heat off any development on Naylors Field in the foreseeable future, he seems oblivious to any situation elsewhere outside of his own ward or town. In his role on WFDC, it is entirely fair to question again his weird meaning for the term of being "fair and consistent" to ALL of our residents in the Wyre Forest area.
The ignorance to the access issues in Olive Grove are outrageous, but equally as outrageous is the way the original wishes of three late benefactors have been treated by modern day local authorities, and by some political movements. 'FranOb' states that she would have preferred a nursing home type use on the Lucy Baldwin site, but no one has come forward to use it for that purpose ... I wonder if 'FranOb' has ever wondered why ... Does she honestly think a potential buyer could take on such an ill maintained building that has been left "lying there decaying and rotting" ???? (Your words Councillor Oborski - not mine) ! Show me any organization in our current economic climate who could have risen to the challenge of reversing the decay at Lucy Baldwin's !!!!
Sadly the fate of the former Lucy Baldwin Maternity Hospital has been rubber-stamped by the sheer vandalism of the Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, who have systematically run the building into the ground; all of this despite the wishes of the original benefactors - The Baldwin's and The Cahn family. It even took the Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust 66 years to overturn the original covenant that was placed on the site in 1931, that clearly states that at times hereafter it was to be used, (the Lucy Baldwin complex), primarily as a maternity hospital and secondarily for such maternity and child welfare work".
Of course the maternity unit disappeared long ago, but the building could and should have been used and maintained at least as a child welfare base as were the wishes of the the Baldwin's and the Cahn's all those years ago.
There is a wonderful film clip out there of our then Prime Minister, Mr Stanley Baldwin, opening the Lucy Baldwin Maternity Hospital primarily for the use of our then residents and future generations of the area. I hope to God that the new owners of the land - Taylor Wimpey - will keep true to their word and incorporate the historical aspect of the Lucy Baldwin Hospital building into their plans, and show justified respect towards the efforts of the late Lucy Baldwin and Sir Julien Cahn who gave so much of their personal wealth towards the betterment of the people of the town; something that modern day local authorities have failed to do !
stour67
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4:47pm Wed 13 Mar 13
mr&mrsb
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5:30pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Stephen Brown
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5:38pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Am I surprised? No.
Am I disappointed about it? Yes.
It is not outside of the wit of man to come up with a scheme that would satisfy the original benefactors intentions, and the housing aspects but sadly money talks as does big business and the people suffer for it - especially those who now have to put up witt the consequences of this decision.
I suspect that even if there were hundreds of objections, they would have been ignored anyway, just like they usually are when money and vested interests talk so saying there were only '2' objections is neither here nor there. People have simply lost faith in the processes designed to give them a voice so don't be surprised if they no longer use them when the authorities do what they want anyway.
Stourport and its people deserve better in my view.
jules1611
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6:18pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Pookie100
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7:16pm Wed 13 Mar 13
No to CALA
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7:38pm Wed 13 Mar 13
fizzlywizzly
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9:01pm Wed 13 Mar 13
jon cooper
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9:54pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Pookie100 wrote:Both the building, and the land it sits on were not financed from the public purse, or any other authority for that matter: Both however were donated to the town by generous benefactors who wanted to do something unique and special for a specific purpose as stated in the original covenant that was overturned in a rather underhanded and sneaky manner by the Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust.
Well done to the Council. We need more houses and the council now has a windfall of 200 grand. This building isn't a stately home or castle its a falling down old house. Only 2 people objected, if people didnt want it why didn't they object?
Objections were certainly not limited to two residents either, it was far wider than that, as was demonstrated at the open public consultation that Taylor Wimpey conducted a little over a year ago. And as 'No to CALA' observed, its true, whether there were 2 objections or 2000, do you honestly believe WFDC would have listened to public opinion ? Did they take any notice towards public opinion regarding 'Wyre Forest House' and the proposed new leisure centre ? Not a chance, they have an appalling legacy in turning a blind eye to public opinion and moral obligation !
I actually don't think we need more housing developments. The population of Stourport has rocketed in recent years without adequate modernisation to its infrastructure. But for arguements sake, if it really is necessary to place even more housing in the district, then why has an area of the likes of the Lucy Baldwin site and the restricted access to and from Olive Grove been approved as quite acceptable for squeezing 41 residential homes onto it, but other areas in the district are deemed to be no go areas for development - as is the case of Naylor's Field Kidderminster ?
Perhaps Naylor's Field sits on an oil reserve, or has an even more elaborate covenant placed on it ?? I actually believe there is a more straightforward explaination that is staring everyone in the face, and the hypocrisy of questioning the validity of traffic access in a restricted area such as Olive Grove, whilst overlooking the possibility of development in Naylor's Field is farcical and selective to say the very least !
jules1611
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10:07pm Wed 13 Mar 13
g affordable rent. Not that I need explain myself but private renting is expensive.
kjb1
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10:38pm Wed 13 Mar 13
richbarring
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10:39pm Wed 13 Mar 13
caronhw
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10:46pm Wed 13 Mar 13
richbarring
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10:55pm Wed 13 Mar 13
F Fish
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11:43pm Wed 13 Mar 13
WFDC has a lengthy book of them, but few are implemented with their "friendly" large housebuilder applicants.
They have been lax to to do so in the past - is that due to pressure from the developers or perhaps the same planning officers dealing with the same applicants too many times?
A search of developments on the WFDC planning website suggests a trail of the same officers dealing with the same applicants - perhaps they are specialists in larger residential schemes??
The Planning Committee needs to stand up and be counted when consents are granted on such large sites in residential areas on the Officer's recommendation without proper working hours restrictions, wheel washing, noise, dust mitigation, etc
Or is WFDC just interested in the new homes allowance and extra Council Tax, and all do what Marcus Hart says?
Numerous similar planning consents have been granted, which are quite frankly a shame on democracy/ Localism? and several members of the District Council, including those on the Planning Committee, and those who have spoken allegedly on behalf of their residents should be prepared to face up to their voters who they turned their backs on over similar matters.
I hope they took more than 30 pieces of silver this time?
stour67
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7:29am Thu 14 Mar 13
Jane Gordon
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12:51pm Thu 14 Mar 13
Yes something needed to be done with the site but better access is really needed. No doubt highways and the planners looked at the site via google earth. I cann't imagine a site visit was done otherwise anyone with an ounce of common sense would see the problems extra congestion on this road will cause. Potentially 82 car park spaces will be needed - I doubt that there will be that many on the site
Shibdrift
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1:56pm Thu 14 Mar 13
And.............
Money could be saved on heating and lighting as they obviously like the cold and dark !!!! (Finepoint design flaws?!)
Hee hee.
stour67
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4:05pm Thu 14 Mar 13
JKay00
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6:20pm Thu 14 Mar 13
It good that the town has a bit of development.
caronhw
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6:55pm Thu 14 Mar 13
JKay00
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8:52pm Thu 14 Mar 13
caronhw wrote:Caronhw, an endowed hospital is hardly significant, hundreds of schools, clinics, hospitals and the like were funded by donations from wealthy benefactors. The building is hardly the Sagrada Familia and is of little architectural merit, the services aren't coming back due to the changing nature of healthcare, so what is the point of just having an abandoned building?
Jkay, it does have historical significance. Look it up :-)
jon cooper
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11:25pm Thu 14 Mar 13
Regarding the former Lucy Baldwin Maternity Hospital building itself, it's a matter of taste of course whether it's approved of in an architectual sense. I'm certainly not on my own who actually has a lot of affection for the building, and of its historic significance - and believe me, the whole Lucy Baldwin vision for a maternity hospital in Stourport is both historic and unique.
Again both the land and the building it sits on was DONATED with a specific intention of being used initially as a maternity wing or at the very least as a child welfare centre as what's been explained before. A legal covenant was set in place, but sadly but predictably due to modern legality, the covenant was thrown out - a disgrace !
For many people the substantial money that will be generated from the sale of the land and the destruction of the building should go back to the Baldwin Trust and directly to the Cahn Family. The original benefactors intention for the site was certainly not to make money from it, but to actually give something for the town, something that is unheard of in modern times !
I really hand on heart mean this, but it really saddens me that our previous benefactors memory is being insulted in such a way to make money. The outcome of the Lucy Baldwin Hospital issue was predictable; and as it was stated 18 months ago, covenants are pretty easy to overturn in the modern legal system, but this sort of business leaves a very sour taste in the mouth for the many people who have a great respect towards the good deeds that were directed at our communities by the likes of the Baldwin's and Sir Julien Cahn.
As i have previously said, unlike the NHS, 'Taylor Wimpey' will commemorate the work of Lucy Baldwin and Sir Julian Cahn into their new development, which comes of some relief, and something i actually respect them for if they're true to their word: But this doesn't erase the real issues of access to and from the Olive Grove location, which has been totally and utterly overlooked by WFDC ...
stour67
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8:14am Fri 15 Mar 13
stour67
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8:15am Fri 15 Mar 13
caronhw
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9:04pm Fri 15 Mar 13
You have completely missed the point, jkay. What has happened with Lucy baldwins should never have been allowed on a matter of principle. It's quite simply wrong and completely unethical.
richbarring
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10:01pm Mon 18 Mar 13
mrs coops says...
10:16am Wed 13 Mar 13