Hub 'partners' fall out over future of Market Square

  • There is a dispute between the 'partners' who are pushing for the closure of Hemel Hospital
  • West Herts Trust bosses are keen that the replacement six-storey 'neighbourhood health centre' Hub should block the views from Marlowes to the Water Gardens
  • But the other 'partner' Dacorum Council is having second thoughts 
  • Heritage watchdog Historic England attacked the idea of plonking the Hub in the middle of the open Square
  • The Council agreed, and now thinks the the Hub should be built on the northern edge of the Square instead
  • The Council now wants to retain a 'public square facing onto the Water Gardens'
  • But the NHS bosses don't want that small concession included in the Local Plan
  • Of course the best idea would be to use the existing Hospital site 
  •  Why are NHS bosses so determined to ruin our town?

by philip

NHS bosses want to demolish our Hospital for this - 639 flats

  • West Herts NHS Trust are bosses planning to completely demolish Hemel Hospital and fill the site with 639 flats and a school
  • The figure for flats is 189 more than are included in current plans
  • This picture is from a Trust paper sent to Government inspectors considering Dacorum's Local Plan
  • The trees are not to scale!
  • Some of the Hospital services will be moved into a 'neighbourhood health centre' on or near the Market Square

 

by philip

NHS bosses want big rise to 639 flats on Hemel Hospital site

  • NHS bosses want to increase the number of flats planned for the Hemel Hospital site by over 40% to 639
  • The extra flats would help raise funds for the £135m 'neighbourhood health centre' Hub on the Market Square
  • Current plans would already allow for 450 flats and a new hospital building on the 12-acre Hemel Hospital site 
  • But now NHS bosses are pushing instead for complete demolition of the Hospital to accommodate the extra flats
  • Dacorum Council says the NHS bid to increase flat numbers is 'welcome', because it provides 'further flexibility on the number of homes that can be delivered in the plan period'.
  • The details of the increased housing demands are set out in a 'Statement of Common Ground' as part of work on the Dacorum Local Plan
  • The link to the Statement is below (go to DBC/ED46 near the bottom of the page):
  • https://letstalk.dacorum.gov.uk/examination-documents

by philip

Case against Hospital closure to go live

  • Dacorum Health Action Group Chair Philip Aylett will be arguing the case against the closure of Hemel Hospital in a public evidence session on 10 March
  • Government inspectors will be holding live-streamed public sessions on the Dacorum Local Plan in Forum on Hemel's Marlowes
  • The NHS Trust and Council aim to push through the downgrade to a 'neighbourhood health centre' Hub in the Market Square.
  • DHAG are pointing out:
  • There is no substantial evidence in favour of the planned downgrade 
  • A thorough expert analysis in 2016-18 of options for hospital development dismissed the Market Square site and is still 'directly relevant' to the present situation 
  • Any extra parking for the Hub will damage the setting of the lovely listed Water Gardens

by philip

Council rethink over Hub plan could mean demolition for businesses

  • Several town centre businesses could have their premises demolished to make way for Hemel's 'neighbourhood health centre' Hub
  •  A new Dacorum Council plan published for consultation would mean demolition of buildings on Marlowes and Waterhouse St
  • The Council appears to have had second thoughts about putting the Hub on the middle of the Market Square itself
  • But the Council now suggests the health centre block would cover part of the area between the Square and The Full House
  • See the blue area marked 1 in the map below, listed as 'Health uses (footprint to be developed)'
  • The new plan could increase further the projected costs of the Hub, which have already reached £135m.
  • This is because few if any of the premises north of the square are apparently owned by the Council, unlike the Market Square itself
  • The document, 'Draft HGC Framework and Transformation Supplementary Planning Document' can be accessed via the link below (See pages 30-36) : https://letstalk.dacorum.gov.uk/46664/widgets/141177/documents/100775

 

 

 

by philip

Council and NHS bosses will mark Hospital's 200th - by working to close it

  • A big birthday is coming up for Hemel Hospital.
  • In September it will be exactly 200 years since the first doctors for a Hemel hospital were appointed 
  • And in January 1827 the first patients were admitted to what was then called the West Herts Infirmary, in Piccotts End.
  • How are Dacorum Council and NHS bosses celebrating?
  • They are working to end a tradition of inpatient beds in our town and closing the Hospital.
  • They are aiming to replace the Hospital with a 'neighbourhood health centre' in the Market Square
  • That's one way for the authorities to make history

by philip

New plan could improve Market Square - but will the Hub be big enough?

  • New plan could see the 'neighbourhood health centre' Hub located on a site bordering Market Square - instead of in the middle of it
  • A Dacorum Council document says 'The historic Market Square will be transformed into a vibrant civic space, inspired by the landscape character of the Jellicoe Water Gardens.' 
  • The document says the Market Square  'must reflect a naturalistic,semi-wild character'.  Ideas include planting and a water feature
  • But this would cause problems for the plan to close Hemel Hospital and replace it with the Hub
  • The original idea was to have a five/six storey Hub building in the middle of the Market Square, blocking views of the Water Gardens
  • The new plan suggests the Hub will instead be built along the northern border of the Square, towards the Full House end
  • The new, more natural, plan seems good news for Hemel's heritage and environment 
  • But is there enough room at the side of the Market Square for all the hospital services we need? Or will buildings need to be demolished to make room?
  • This paper will be discussed at the Council's Cabinet on 3 February (see pages 713-719):

https://democracy.dacorum.gov.uk/documents/g4140/Public%20reports%20pack%2003rd-Feb-2026%2019.30%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10

 

by philip

Inspectors demand explanations from Council over Hospital closure plan

  • Government-appointed inspectors are to press Dacorum Borough Council on its plan to close Hemel Hospital
  • The Council and the West Herts Trust aim to replace the Hospital with a 'neighbourhood health centre' Hub in the Market Square
  • Up to 600 flats would be built on the cleared current Hospital site
  • The independent expert inspectors are examining Dacorum's local plan 
  • They will question the Council  and others at public evidence sessions in March
  • Parking problems and the risk to Hemel's heritage will come up
  • The inspectors could require the Council to change the local plan document
  • That could make it harder for the Council and Trust to close the Hospital
  • The inspectors' questions include:
  1. Is allocation Hm03 [flats on the Hospital site], and replacement healthcare provision at Hm05 [Hub in Market Square], justified?
  2. Has appropriate account been taken of historic assets at or near Hm03 and Hm05, notably the grade II listed Tile Mosaic map in respect of Hm03 and the market square setting to the water gardens grade II registered park and garden, such that the allocations, and any criteria to them, are justified?
  3. Are allocations Hm03 and Hm05 justified, effective and consistent with national policy? If not, what modifications are required to make the Plan sound?

by philip

What we will lose if the Hub goes ahead

  • What Hemel will lose if the Hub goes ahead
  • Two pictures:
  1. Today: Market Square  from the Marlowes. Not perfect, but important and historic public space linking the Marlowes New Town to older parts of town in the Cotterells
  2. The future? If the Dacorum Council and West Herts Trust have their way, we will get five storeys of Hub infill plus a nice big sign.  Note: This is the Waterhouse Street side, not the Marlowes side.

 

         

 

 

 

 

 

by philip

Will the Water Gardens car parks be browned off?

  • Dacorum Council and housebuilders Hill Group are advertising the Water Gardens car parks as a  'brownfield opportunity'
  • Does this matter?
  • Yes - Government policy strongly favours development on brownfield sites. The Hub will need more parking.
  • If the Water Gardens car parks are put into the 'brownfield' category, planning permission for housing is very likely to be given
  • But national experts the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) have pointed out that with policy and target mechanisms implemented in the 1990s and early 2000s, the consensus was that :
  • 'much residential development output on brownfield land was of poor quality.
  • 'these approaches allowed the over-development of high-density, monolithic developments comprised largely of small one- and two-bedroom flats.'
  • 'The high-rise, high-density nature of many of the redevelopments raised concerns over ‘town cramming’.
  • 'Many developments provided inadequate public space and amenities, put too much pressure on existing services and design was out of keeping with the character of neighbourhoods.'
  • It may be that lessons have been learned since.
  • But on the other hand recent governments have encouraged brownfield building even more.
  • This is the link to the CPRE report - see section 1.2:

https://www.cpre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Better_Brownfield_web.pdf

Better_Brownfield_web

 

 

 

 

 

by philip