Peter Kent-Baguley

Demolish and be damned

The Council Executive have published in their latest Fordward Plan the intention to demolish a landmark C19th building which has figured in the lives of thousands of people, past and present, residents, relatives and staff. Westcliffe Hospital, latterly a residential home for the elderly, has been closed now for a number of months. Its brick and mortar structure has changed its purpose in line with shifting social views and political solutions. Originally it may well have presented a daunting facade to those trudging towards it to be swallowed within as paupers in the work-house. Opposite, amidst a patch of grassland amongst the '70s housing estate remain still some of the graves of residents of that work-house. It would seem that the Executive wish to spend £1.2m of the Housing Capital Programme budget to demolish the historic building. What I need to find out is if our officers have considered alternatives to wholesale demolition vis a vis preserving historic fabric, reducing our carbon footprint, eliciting challenging new-build design to sit alongside the historic fabric and so on. None of this is to declare a positon: simply to explore some obvious questions. It is to be hoped that the officers' report will set out in some detail these various options.