A VACANT building left untouched for more than a decade could be turned into an orthopaedic health clinic after plans were approved.
No objections were filed for the proposals to transform the single storey building attached to Denmark Court, a block of 40 flats in Wimborne Road, into an NHS-backed orthopaedic clinic.
Originally, the Denmark Court development in Poole included plans for a social club to take up tenancy in the auxiliary building to replace the old Poole Conservative Club. While the flats have long since been completed and occupied, the social club element never came to fruition due to lack of interest.
Despite being externally completed, the interior remains an empty shell. In October 2018, permission was granted for its use as serviced offices, however that was never implemented and expired after three years.
The recently approved proposal, lobbied by Standard Health Ltd, will see the space house a range of medical facilities including six consultation rooms, MRI and X-ray rooms as well as an operating theatre.
Standard Health run elective orthopaedic services and have held an NHS contract with Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group since 2012. They have successfully treated more than 4,000 patients within Dorset from existing NHS facilities.
The unit is understood to have full support from Dorset CCG and will help to increase NHS capacity within the region and contribute to clearing the substantial NHS waiting lists locally.
Approximately 15 full time nursing staff will be employed at the clinic.
In her recommendation for BCP Council to approve the plans, case officer Natasha McCann said: “The scheme has social, economic and environmental benefits and would ensure the longevity of a community facility, offsetting the loss of floorspace that has not been used for circa 10 years.
“The proposal would preserve neighbouring amenities and would not have any significant harm to parking provision and highway safety. The proposal complies with the relevant policies in the Poole Local Plan. It is therefore recommended that permission is granted with conditions.”
Council planners agreed and approved the orthopaedic health clinic plans, subject to conditions, on August 15.
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