FRESH questions have been asked about the long delays to a long-promised health centre in Burntwood.
It comes after Lichfield District Council awarded more than £1.1 million in Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding last year to support the delivery of the project.
No formal plans have been submitted for the proposed health and wellbeing facility earmarked for Cherry Close, despitea temporary centre at the nearby Burntwood Leisure Centre having closed in 2024.
Councillors were told in 2023 by the chief transformation officer of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) that he was “confident” of an opening date in 2025.
However, it is now understood that a planning application won’t be submitted until July or early August this year
In a recent cabinet meeting which awarded more than £1.4million to other infrastructure projects in the district, further questions were raised over the long-awaited scheme.
Cllr Andrew Smith, deputy leader and cabinet member for leisure and major projects, said the council could not allow significant sums of money to remain tied up indefinitely.
He said:
“Obviously, while that’s a really important infrastructure project for us to go ahead with, we also need to be minded that the project has seen some significant delays.
“What we don’t want to see is big chunks of money being held for a project that may not occur.”
Cllr Alex Farrell, cabinet member for housing and the Local Plan, replied:
“We offered Burntwood Health Centre just over £1.1million of CIL last year – money that has to be spent within three years of it being awarded.
“There have been delays that have concerned us, and they asked for a six-month extension to when they can spend the money through to September 2028.
“We wouldn’t normally agree to an extension, but because it’s really important to the people of Burntwood that they get this health centre we did agree to that extension.”
