Bracknell MP Peter Swallow and Prime Minister Keir Starmer have brushed off opposition to plans for a new Frimley Park Hospital on part of Pine Ridge Golf Course.
Part of the Frimley course, owned by charity Frimley Fuel Allotments, has been named the preferred site for the replacement hospital. The plans would see five holes sold to the NHS; the charity would keep the remaining land, including 13 holes, the clubhouse and driving range.
At Prime Minister's Questions Surrey Heath MP Dr Al Pinkerton called the selection process "compromised", but Sir Keir hit back: "He demands a new hospital and then opposes actually building it," and "Labour is building new hospitals, he's standing up for golf courses. I can't think of anything more Lib Dem."
Mr Swallow stressed the urgency of replacing the current hospital, affected by unsafe 'bubbly concrete' also known as RAAC. He said: "Residents have been waiting years for a new hospital. This Labour Government has delivered the cash and got the ball rolling," he said. "I'll keep pushing for the new hospital to be built as soon as possible - because Bracknell Forest residents can't wait. "The hospital was first promised in 2023, but the location was only confirmed last month after the Government committed funding and placed it in the first wave of new hospital schemes. "The way to deliver improvements is to engage with the process - not try to wreck it. "Dr Pinkerton needs to explain why residents must be forced to give birth in RAAC-infested wards and wait countless years for a new site to be selected, simply to avoid encroaching on a golf course."
He added there were "legitimate challenges" with the site and said he would continue working with Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust on infrastructure, transport and parking concerns.
A petition on change.org calling the greenspace a "clearly unsuitable site for a major new hospital" had gathered 15,000 signatures on Friday. The petitioners wrote: "The Fuel Allotments were enclosed nearly 200 years ago specifically for the benefit of the poor of Frimley. "The charity's accounts show that its income has exceeded its outgoings for several years - it is not in financial difficulty and does not need to sell the land to meet its charitable aims. "Those aims do not include the wholesale disposal of the land for residential development, nor providing a clearly unsuitable site for a major new hospital. "As custodians of this land, the trustees have a duty to protect it for future generations."
Frimley Fuel Allotments, founded in 1803 to relieve local poverty, says it is legally bound to act in its own best interests and has previously sold land for community uses, including the original Frimley cottage hospital. It has not yet decided the long-term future of the remaining golf course land.
Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter
