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  • "Surely, if something is gifted with a covenant that it shoul be used n a particular way, then if the recipient accepts the covenant he is morally bound to return the gift to the original benefactor if he no longer wishes to keep to the covenant. It is tantamount to theft if the covenant is removed so that the recipient can make a small fortune by using the property for some other purpose."
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Anger over covenant removal for Lucy Baldwin Hospital housing scheme

8:50am Thursday 26th April 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By William Tomaney

'Very sad': The majority of the Lucy Baldwin Hospital buildings will make way for new homes. 'Very sad': The majority of the Lucy Baldwin Hospital buildings will make way for new homes.

ANGRY Stourport residents say they did not know a covenant on the Lucy Baldwin Hospital site had been removed, paving the way for a housing development.

Taylor Wimpey unveiled plans for 37 new homes and four apartments on land off Olive Grove at the Brinton Arms last Thursday.

During the event, several puzzled residents said a covenant was placed on the land in 1931 by Julien Cahn, who bought the property and gave it as a gift to Lucy Baldwin, wife of then-Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.

The agreement states the site “shall at all times hereafter be used primarily as a maternity hospital and secondarily for such maternity and child welfare work.”

A spokesman for Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, however, said it was made ineffective by the NHS Act 1946.

“Last year, we asked the Land Registry to remove the covenants and this change was effected,” he added.

Stourport resident Jon Cooper, born at the hospital in 1967, said: “The Lucy Baldwin story is fantastic and we believed the land was donated to the people of Stourport as a maternity unit.

“It has been allowed to become run down, which is very sad. It has been dealt with very ungraciously considering the good intentions it was built with.”

Under the housing scheme, existing buildings would make way for 12 three and four-bedroom detached houses and a mix of two and three bedroom semi-detached and terraced houses.

One proposal would convert the existing lodge building into four onebedroom apartments. Another design, less popular at the event, would demolish all existing buildings. Plans sparked mixed reaction from residents and visitors.

William Detorre, of the Ridgeway, said: “I am glad something is being done as it is prone to vandalism but I am worried about my privacy. Only seven of the hundreds of trees will remain untouched.”

Debbie Price, of Olive Grove, said she was concerned about roads around the development not being wide enough.

A spokesman for Taylor Wimpey said the feedback would help shape proposals before a planning application was submitted “in about a month”.

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