Bracknell Leaders Demand Swift Action on Hospital

Senior leaders in Bracknell have demanded rapid progress after NHS managers named a preferred site for a new Frimley Park Hospital. The replacement was promised by Sir Keir Starmer earlier this year after the existing complex was found to be unstable because it was built with RAAC.

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust has picked about 55 acres at Pine Ridge, land owned by the Frimley Fuel Allotments charity, alarming countryside campaigners. The trust says the choice followed an exhaustive assessment of 18 sites within five miles and that no land purchase has yet been made. A spokesperson said: "We're listening to feedback and want to ensure the best outcome for our communities," with detailed technical studies, public engagement and a full consultation still to come before any final decision.

The campaign group Save Surrey Countryside described the proposed development as "unthinkable vandalism".

Bracknell MP Peter Swallow said he had spent months pressing the trust over road access, public transport and parking, and why alternative sites had been ruled out. He said he repeatedly pushed the Trust, including at Prime Minister's Questions, to reveal its preferred site "so that residents can have sight of the same information I've been seeing". He secured two public meetings for residents to quiz NHS bosses and warned the proposed site at Pine Ridge Golf Club is "not perfect" and will require "a lot of investment" - but stressed he "won't put the new hospital at risk by refusing to engage in good faith as we work through the challenges".

Former Bracknell MP James Sunderland said he was "pleased that a decision has finally been taken on the new site" and that the need for a replacement was "as valid today as it was when local Conservative MPs did the original work to make it happen". He said it was now "imperative" that the Labour government, local authorities and NHS England "work together to put spades into the ground" and condemned "dither and delay".

Cllr Gareth Barnard, leader of the Conservative group on Bracknell Forest Council, said residents had "waited long enough for certainty" and that the announcement must mark "the end of the delays and the beginning of delivery". He added people wanted "progress on the ground, not endless discussions and political point‑scoring", saying local residents "care far less about who gets the credit and far more about when the doors will open. The priority now must be delivery."

Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter