Pullout by GP practices may block Walsall health plans
Multi-million pound plans for a new health centre in Walsall could be scrapped after two GP practices have pulled out of the scheme, it emerged today.
The former Jabez Cliff leatherworks in the town centre has been earmarked for the £3 million complex in Lower Forster Street.
It has been in the pipeline for a number of years but two of the three interested surgeries have dropped out.
It comes with the business case for the health centre in its final stages.
One of the anticipated surgeries to be run from the site pulled out several months ago, but it was still expected the project for a state-of-the-art facility could go ahead with two.
But one of remaining practices has decided not to pursue the move which means developers face looking for other interested parties or have to consider alternative uses of the site.
Councillor Mohammed Arif, who has been leading the plans for the new health centre as part of the Butts and Hatherton Health Centre, appealed for fresh interest today.
"We have been working on this for the last five years," he said.
"I am absolutely disappointed that the practice has pulled out.
"We are left with just one at the moment which makes it difficult to go ahead with the scheme.
"We either look at alternative uses for the site and we are working with the developer and the owner to see what we can do.
"But as a ward councillor I would want a state-of-the-art health centre to go in. We want to see if there is anyone interested in coming on board with a GP practice.
"With the Gigaport we envisage an additional 3,000 town centre workers potentially looking for a doctor."
The old Jabez Cliff factory has now been pulled down.
More than 60 firefighters were called to the former factory in August 2011 to tackle a blaze which brought the town centre to a standstill. The 1876 factory building had been empty since 2009, when the workforce moved to a new base in Aldridge.
Police confirmed it was not being treated as arson and fire investigators said the cause of the devastating blaze may never be known.
Nearby homes and businesses were evacuated and part of the main ring road was closed. Others in the vicinity were encouraged to say indoors.
Conservationists had called for the facade of the building to be retained as part of the health centre plan but that was not possible.
