Hucknall 'can't wait day longer' for derelict pub to be transformed into major NHS centre

Campaigners have written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting urging funding to be released for the major project

Campaigners say Hucknall "cannot wait a day longer" for a promised super health centre to be delivered in the town as more than £1 million is waiting to be invested in it. The Ashfield town of around 40,000 residents was one of six areas chosen to pioneer Cavell Centres, named after the British World War I nurse Edith Cavell, which would have brought services including GP practices, pharmacies and dental clinics together in one building.

A pause of this pilot was confirmed in 2023 and local NHS bosses recently confirmed there was still no certainty on funding for the project. Hucknall councillors have now written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting asking for the funding to be released and for a meeting to put forward their case.

It has also been confirmed that more than £1 million of money committed by Ashfield District Council towards the project, primarily made up of Section 106 money from developers, remains waiting to be invested in the Cavell Centre. Councillor Lee Waters, an Ashfield Independent councillor for Hucknall, said: "The reality is that it has been over 18 months since this critical project was paused without adequate explanation.

"Hucknall's health crisis is getting is worse and yet even local NHS health bosses cannot give us an update of what is going on. Hucknall, like five others places in the UK, is in limbo because of broken NHS and government promises.

"It's been over three months since the new Labour government was elected and we hope that by raising this directly with the Secretary of State Mr Streeting, we will finally get the go-ahead we need to deliver a new, super health centre that will make a huge contribution to ending Hucknall's health crisis." The old Seven Stars pub in West Street, which has been closed since 2013, was earmarked as a potential location for the Cavell Centre and remains derelict.

Alex Ball, from the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, said at a recent meeting: "There is no further update on what you refer to as the Cavell Centre. That programme does not have the national funding it would need to deliver it but we continue to invest in Primary Care in the Hucknall area. We are increasing some of the space within existing practices and we continue to monitor the growth in population."

The letter to Wes Streeting from Councillor Waters, also signed by Councillors Dave Shaw and John Wilmott, reads: "Our town remains in limbo due to the pause and we are asking you release the funding to get ours, and the five other Cavell Centres, back on track. We are happy to meet with you or a member of the government to put forward our case – but the reality is that Hucknall cannot wait a day longer for promised improvements to primary health care." The new government's first budget since taking office is due on October 30, when it is hoped that certainty will be given on a range of Nottinghamshire projects that hang in the balance.