4:00pm Tuesday 12th January 2010
Work on a new multi-million-pound Silsden Health Centre could begin “any day”.
Contractor Ashley House, formerly Sapphire Primary Care Developments, said it was waiting to finalise lease negotiations before erecting a temporary facility on the Elliott Street site.
As soon as it has been built, the current health centre will be demolished to make way for a two-storey primary care centre and pharmacy.
Airedale Primary Care Trust gave Silsden Health Centre a £145,000 cash injection in 2006 to make way for the surgery, where ten practitioners will be based.
Commercial development manager for Ashley House Colin Rimmer said: “The new building is likely to be twice as big as the existing one and will offer better and more modern health care facilities.
“Once the temporary accommodation is up and the building has been demolished, we are expecting the new building will take around a year to complete.
“The Silsden GPs have worked closely with Sapphire and the Bradford and Airedale PCT for the last six years and all the project team are delighted that the building of the surgery is now imminent.”
Because of the delay in bringing the plans to fruition, Mr Rimmer has applied for planning permission to extend the temporary accommodation licence until late 2011.
Silsden Health Centre practice manager Christine Glen said the surgery would operate as normal while work was carried out.
She said: “We are currently looking forward as to what new services we can provide in the new health centre, but these are yet to be decided.
“A few services might have to be temporarily transferred to the Steeton branch surgery on Chapel Road during construction.”
Ashley House specialises in the design, construction and management of primary and social care infrastructure.
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