THE auction of land near to Launceston Hospital has been halted thanks to Cornwall Council, and the chief executive of the clinical commissioning group has apologised for the issue causing ‘anxiety in the community’.

Auctioneers Allsop had been offering a patch of land north of the Link Road, just below Kernow House nursing home at a guide price of £80,000 to £90,000 with the suggestion that the site has ‘possible residential development potential, subject to obtaining all necessary consents’.

The sale was instructed by NHS Property Services Ltd, and was due to take place today (Thursday).

There was public outcry, saying that as a covenant applies to the land, no residential development should take place there, and that any future development should be restricted to medical uses.

In a briefing letter about the land by NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) chief officer Jackie Pendleton, she wrote: “A number of covenants and restrictions are in place on the land and any purchaser will be required to adhere to their terms in the usual way. It has been reported that the land was left to the town by a benefactor, with instructions that it was used for health purposes.”

However, she said one of the charges on the hospital site as a whole, stating no building shall be built except for the purposes of a hospital, ‘is not part of the property due to be auctioned and therefore it is not subject to these restrictions’.

The site was listed on the Government’s Register of Surplus Public Sector Land to give other public bodies the opportunity to acquire it at the market value before it is sold on the open market.

Liberal Democrat Cornwall Councillor for Launceston South Jade Farrington said last week that Cornwall Council has registered an interest in the land and succeeded in getting the site withdrawn from the auction ‘so that discussions regarding potential uses can occur’.

Cllr Farrington said: “The land is expected to sell for around £100,000 so if anyone has any thoughts on potential economical uses please let me know and I will feed them in to the process.”

Leader of Cornwall?Council and Liberal Democrat ward member for Launceston North and North Petherwin, Adam Paynter, said:?“Cornwall Council knew nothing about this sale of land but it is fantastic that the council has stopped it being sold. We will work with the NHS to see if we can find another use for the land.”

MP for North Cornwall, Conservative Scott Mann, said: “I’m pleased to see that the land for sale at Launceston Hospital has been withdrawn from auction. When I first heard about this sale I immediately wrote to NHS Kernow to ask them to review their decision and to consider using it for the benefit of the hospital and our valued health professionals.

“Whilst I appreciate the land serves no clinical or medical purpose, I do feel that a more imaginative use could be found for it, such as free parking for medical staff, or better still, affordable housing for frontline Launceston health workers, which would help mitigate the challenges we currently face in recruiting and retaining staff in Cornwall’s health service.

“I now hope that Cornwall Council, NHS Kernow and NHS Property Services can come to an agreement on how the land should be used to the benefit of local NHS workers.”

The Post understands NHS Kernow CCG was told by NHS Property Services Ltd: “Formal notification of the authority’s intent to buy the land was received by NHS Property Services [on October 20]. The property will therefore be withdrawn from the auction on October 26 pending receipt of a formal purchase offer from the council. NHS Property Services always offers disposal sites to other public bodies before selling them on the open market.”

Ms Pendleton added in the briefing paper: “There is no statutory requirement to consult with the public on the sale of land that does not affect the delivery of services and this particular situation did not trigger the legal duty to engage.

“An enormous amount of work has been undertaken with the local community to develop relationships through our co-production workshops and I accept that it would’ve been courteous to keep people at the town council informed of this plan. I am sincerely sorry that this did not happen in this instance and as a result has caused anxiety within the community, which was never anyone’s intention.

“This decision in no way undermines the rich and honest discussions we are having with people both in Launceston and the rest of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly about the future delivery of health and care services.”