Plans progressing on new £11m health centre for Staffordshire community
A Staffordshire county councillor says project to build the new Burntwood Health Centre at a cost of almost £11 million is making progress after criticism over delays.
There are plans to develop a new health and wellbeing complex on land, in Cherry Close, in Burntwood near Lichfield.
Lichfield - Burntwood South ward representative Councillor Robin Hall has confirmed that the scheme is at the design and planning stages following comments by Lichfield District Council's Labour group relating to timetable slippage over funding.
However, Councillor Hall, of Reform UK, said there has been no material change to the overall timetable and that the planning application was still on track to be lodged with the district council by early summer.
Councillor Hall said: “The most important point is that the project continues to move forward and the target of delivering the health centre by September 2028 remains unchanged.”
“Major developments like this require significant technical work before planning can be submitted. That includes surveys, highways design, consultations with utility providers and detailed design work.”
“Given that the NHS decision to move the project forward was only taken in December, it is difficult to see how claims of delays only a few months later are grounded in reality.”
Construction may start around February 2027 with the health centre expected to be operational by September 2028 in line with the grant funding requirements.
The scheme is currently progressing between stages two and three of the development process, including site surveys, highways and access design, consultation with utility and telecom providers and wider design development.
Stage four will involve detailed design work which will form the basis of the formal planning application.
Due to the complexity of the project district council officers have been assisting with technical work relating to roads, utilities and infrastructure with the support of it's trading arm Lichfield West Midlands Trading Services Ltd.
Councillor Hall added: “This is not actually a statutory responsibility of the county council, but we have stepped in to help drive the project forward because residents have waited a long time to see this facility delivered.”
Further progress meetings with officers are scheduled for early May as work continues towards the planning submission.
A temporary health centre is operating in a portable unit off High Street, in Chasetown, after being briefly based at Burntwood Leisure Centre. The old centre also in High Street shut in 2024 after the NHS contract was not renewed resulting in 5,000 patients being "dispersed" to other GPs in the area. In 2023 around 20 residents took part in a protest over the decision.
Meanwhile the GP Dr Manu Agrawal complained of being ignored by Staffordshire and Stoke-on Trent Integrated Care Board despite putting forward a proposal to stay open. When the new facility is completed Salters Meadow Practice, in Rugeley Road, and the Darwin surgery, in High Street, Chasetown, will also be housed in the proposed £10.7m health centre.
The district council's leisure chief Councillor Andrew Smith told a cabinet meeting that the council could not allow significant sums of money to remain tied up indefinitely after setting aside around £1.1m from its Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) pot towards the development.
