If you have been reading my blog for some time you would have seen that we found out the Medical Centre was scrapped in my blog piece in December 2011:
Battle Site Medical Centre A Victim Of NHS Cutbacks
The fact is has taken until now for Alok Sharma MP to voice his concerns is no surprise to me. We rarely see him in Battle Ward - I think I have seen him once in nearly three years. It was a meeting and he turned up as it was ending.
Battle contains areas of great deprivation, areas that should be supported by their MP. They aren't. Instead his Government are pushing hardworking families harder and harder with their attack on working benefits.
It has it's problems with prostitution and our MP has done nothing. Battle cllrs, along with the Oxford Road NAG, have been pushing the Police for action, and recent press has shown this is happening.
Off out now to do a leaflet delivery
, working everyday for the residents of Battle, unlike our MP!
'The PCT have confirmed they can no longer provide a medical
facility for the Oxford Road community on the former Battle Hospital
site (Tesco, West Village) as promised.
The PCT say that, Conservative led Government cuts means that they
cannot afford to take forward the plans for the Battle site and that the
health centre is no longer a viable option. Instead they have decided
to invest in the Walk in Centre in the Broad Street Mall. As well as
being available to all Reading residents it is our understanding the
Centre is expected to take pressure off A&E at the Royal Berks. It
has also been suggested the centre is designed to take pressure off our
local doctors. However, the Centre is hardly local to Battle ward so it
is hard to see how that is supposed to work.
We are deeply disappointed to break this news to you, especially as
so many of you helped us campaign successfully, we thought, for a local
medical facility.
The profile of the ward has changed since 2005 when we first
consulted local people on what benefits they would like to see come from
the West Village development. Many resident in Battle Ward today will
not have taken part in the 2005 consultation. Residents priorities may
have changed since then and as such we believe we need to start again
and find out what you would like the money spent on. The figure we are
talking about is in the region of £1million plus, this could be used to
do an awful lot of good in Battle ward.
In 2005 we campaigned for a medical Centre, that will not happen
thanks to our Tory MP Sharma and his Government. In 2013 we have secured
£1million pounds plus for our community, the final figure has yet to be
agreed with the developer.
We have insisted Reading Borough Council carry out a public
consultation before a single penny is spent, they have agreed to do
that. Look out for our consultation in the next few weeks.'