A multi-million pound health centre can now be built next to a school in Rugeley after details were waved through by planners. Permission was granted yesterday for the Western Springs Infant School building to be bulldozed.Councillors took less than 10 minutes to reach a final decision. The permission is subject to a Section 106 agreement, which provides cash for the local area, and a string of conditions regarding the work.
An amendment was made to the plans to include an extra 15 car parking spaces.
A new surgery is also currently being built in Sandy Lane, Rugeley, and should be open in the New Year.
Councillor Brian Williams said: “We have got Sandy Lane just about being completed.
“Another health centre in this part of town is especially welcome but I would ask the health authority not to close the one at Aelfgar. They have promised to look at it.”
The former infant school site, was declared surplus in March 2006 and has closed.
Concerns were raised previously as plans initially included closing the town’s Aelfgar Surgery and moving its services to the new Western Springs centre.
It sparked worries over the effect it would have on the surgery’s elderly patients as it would be further from their homes and not on a bus route.
But the Aelfgar Surgery recently withdrew its support for the project and it is now hoped it will remain open.
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