Dear Editor,
What is Phase 2?
It turns out that the Gladstone Park Health Hub proposals are only “Phase 1”!
What is Phase 2? How much more park will that take? Why weren’t we told this in the initial “consultation”? Why did it take THREE Freedom of Information requests to discover this? Why do we not know what “Phase 2” is? Is there a Phase 3?
It seems that these proposals are “Phase 1”. A freedom of information request has revealed the letter from Willesden Green Surgery’s consultants, Peacock & Smith, asking for pre-application advice on “Phase 1 - Current Scheme”. It says it is an “interim measure”. The letter refers to a slight tweak of the scheme we have now (with parking spaces and a basement gym), but appears to otherwise be the scheme from the Informal Consultation. A Phase 2 seems to have been blacked out.
What is Phase 2? How much more park will that take? Why weren’t we told this in the initial “consultation”? Why did it take THREE Freedom of Information requests to discover this? Why do we not know what “Phase 2” is? Is there a Phase 3?
It seems that these proposals are “Phase 1”. A freedom of information request has revealed the letter from Willesden Green Surgery’s consultants, Peacock & Smith, asking for pre-application advice on “Phase 1 - Current Scheme”. It says it is an “interim measure”. The letter refers to a slight tweak of the scheme we have now (with parking spaces and a basement gym), but appears to otherwise be the scheme from the Informal Consultation. A Phase 2 seems to have been blacked out.
We have been told by Dr Mo in the consultation that Willesden Green Surgery needs new premises and no one disputes this. But we were not clearly told that the new building would be to serve people from all around, up to 1.5 miles away. And we weren’t told that it would be a single point of access for housing, social care, mental health and neighbourhood health services (whatever all that means). We weren’t told there was no cap on the number of patients. So is it 20,000 or 40,000 patients or what? WGS is expanding so rapidly it could be anything. Now do we find there is a Phase 2?
Gladstone Park is surrounded by new flats going up. Stand in the park and look. And in neighbourhoods like Church End the number of residents is increasing dramatically even without the new builds. All over the borough, houses are converted to flats and more and more people are squashed in. Neighbourhoods become “disadvantaged” and new-build flats go up next door. All these people need healthcare yet some local GP practices have declining patient numbers - probably because patients are being sucked into multi-service mega practices with enormous lists.
So isn’t it blindingly obvious that this thing is going to get bigger and bigger and offer more and more services. Great. And someone had the bright idea that, being in a park, you can just use up more and more of the park as you need? Hey presto!
Guess that’s where Phase 2 comes in.
Why did Friends of Gladstone Park agree to this? Why are Mapesbury Residents’ Association asleep? Why do the Parkrun get shoutouts in Zoom calls? What do they know that we lowly residents don’t?
So what is Phase 2? And where does it end for our park?
Yours,
Gladstone Park is surrounded by new flats going up. Stand in the park and look. And in neighbourhoods like Church End the number of residents is increasing dramatically even without the new builds. All over the borough, houses are converted to flats and more and more people are squashed in. Neighbourhoods become “disadvantaged” and new-build flats go up next door. All these people need healthcare yet some local GP practices have declining patient numbers - probably because patients are being sucked into multi-service mega practices with enormous lists.
So isn’t it blindingly obvious that this thing is going to get bigger and bigger and offer more and more services. Great. And someone had the bright idea that, being in a park, you can just use up more and more of the park as you need? Hey presto!
Guess that’s where Phase 2 comes in.
Why did Friends of Gladstone Park agree to this? Why are Mapesbury Residents’ Association asleep? Why do the Parkrun get shoutouts in Zoom calls? What do they know that we lowly residents don’t?
So what is Phase 2? And where does it end for our park?
Yours,
A concerned park user and resident
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