RED TAPE DELAY HITS SICK KIDS COMMUNITY BID
A community group’s bid to buy a historic Scottish hospital has been
delayed by red tape.
The Scottish Government was considering an application by residents
living next to the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh to be given first refusal to
buy the site under new urban ‘community right to buy’ laws.
But the process has stalled after complex land ownership issues around
the 122-year-old hospital revealed that although the four-acre facility is
being marketed as one site, it is owned by two separate legal entities.
This means the Marchmont and Sciennes Development Trust (MSDT) has had
to drop its single application to be given first refusal on the site and will
now submit two separate bids to Scottish ministers to try and gain control of
the iconic hospital.
The two landowners at the Sick Kids are NHS Lothian and its charitable
trust, the Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation.
MSDT has today asked both the health board and foundation to release all
of the tittle deeds it holds for the land and buildings in order to get beyond
this impasse.
However, this latest development effectively means that a suspension of
the sale process - ordered while the Scottish Government considered the
original right to buy application - has now been lifted and health chiefs can
resume talks with short-listed private developers.
Affordable co-operative housing, healthcare and nursery facilities,
space for social enterprises and a multi-purpose community hall are among the
ideas for the Sick Kids already suggested by MSDT – the community body
representing local residents.
A MSDT spokesman said: “This complication is disappointing but not
unexpected given it is a complex site and it is a bid that really tests the new
legislation.
“We are now focused on definitively determining who owns which parts of
the site and submitting the two applications that could ultimately see the
community take control of the Sick Kids site when the NHS moves out.
“We have asked the health board and the foundation for help with this
task as they hold the relevant title deeds, a move which will benefit all
parties as it would speed up the process and get us all closer to a decision on
whether MSDT should get first refusal on the site."
“This site remains a dream opportunity to bring this historic hospital
under community control.”
Registered in Scotland SC558295
