A CONTROVERSIAL housing development could put considerable pressure on a doctors’ surgery, a public inquiry has heard.
Development Securities lodged an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate for Wales after Flintshire Council’s planning committee deferred a vote on the 280-home site in Broughton in December.
Outline plans for the site, south of Broughton Shopping Park, were first submitted in 2004.
An agreement on the number of homes has been reached but the parties have clashed over setting aside land for a new medical centre.
Town planner Rhys Davies spoke as an expert witness on behalf of the council.
He said: “A development of this size would put considerable pressure on local capacity. Broughton is served in the main by the Marshes Medical Practice.
“Its current practice accommodation is very cramped and this lack of space currently prevents any meaningful increase in the clinical and non-clinical teams.
“There is a need for improved facilities. The practice is up to capacity and there is no room to expand.”
Flintshire Council is asking for land to be set aside for five years and if no centre had been built in that time, the land would revert to the developer.
Speaking on behalf of Development Securities, Ian Ponter said the quality of the council’s evidence for the need for a new medical centre does not withstand scrutiny.
He said: “It is unconvincing in respect of the need for the donation of a quarter of a hectare site.”
He added the development would make an important contribution to the provision of “much needed” market and affordable housing.
If the expected 700 new residents all registered at Marshes the doctor patient ratio would increase to one doctor per 1,800 residents.
The figure would be slightly above health guidelines for the county, but below those of nearby surgeries in Hawarden, Buckley and Saltney.
Mr Ponter asked if there was any evidence patients in Saltney were unable to access a doctor, to which Mr Davies replied ‘no’.
But Mr Davies said he spoke to the practice and its understanding of the situation should take precedence.
He said: “It would be unrealistic to expect a practice running at capacity to take a number of extra patients.”
Development Securities has earmarked land on the site but said they will only provide it if its appeal, which rests with the Welsh Government, is unsuccessful.
The inquiry continues.