Selecting Sites

The trust undertook a careful and thorough process before the preferred sites were chosen by the Trust Board on 28th February 2008. Click to download the agenda and supporting papers from the meeting.

Although the final decision on where to build the new inpatient units rested with the Trust Board, members were heavily influenced by the views of everyone who took part in a site selection public meeting during October and November 2007, a virtual public meeting or contacted the trust.

The trust had a long list of possible locations for the new hospitals and also had a list of criteria that needed to be taken into account when choosing the right sites. For example, from discussions with trust staff and the people who use the trust’s services, the trust knows that hospital bedrooms should look out over green space, not busy main roads and industrial areas. The rooms should not be cramped and there should be enough accommodation for a wide range of activities to be provided in the new hospitals.  The hospitals themselves should be near to towns, not in the centre, and they should be easy to reach by public transport.

The following potential sites were identified on that basis:

CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Buckshaw Village, Chorley
Ribbleton Hospital, Preston
Sharoe Green, Preston

EAST LANCASHIRE
Burnley General Hospital
Reedley Hallow, Fence
Regent Street, Colne
Shuttleworth Mead, Padiham
Gib Hill, Nelson
The former Empire Mill site and former Lucas Playing Fields, both in Burnley, are no longer being considered as potential sites owing to them being withdrawn by their landowners.

The preferred site for East Lancashire was Shuttleworth Mead - however subsequent post selection work identified that there were planning permission issues requiring a further sites survey and selection process. Click here for further information.

NORTH LANCASHIRE - BLACKPOOL, FYLDE AND WYRE (FYLDE COAST)
Wyndycke Farm, Blackpool
Devonshire Road Hospital
Norcross Farm, Cleveleys
Station Road in Poulton-le-Fylde and Blackpool Business Park are no longer being considered as potential sites owing to them being withdrawn by their landowners.

NORTH LANCASHIRE - LANCASTER AND MORECAMBE
Royal Albert Fields
Ridge Lea Hospital
Wyresdale Road, Lancaster
South Lancaster

Criteria for choosing the sites

The criteria on which the suitability of possible sites for the new inpatient units were judged are as follows:

The above criteria were drawn up in direct response to the views expressed by:

In addition, there were further criteria which the trust was required to take into consideration:

At the site selection meetings short presentations were given by senior trust staff about the public consultation, development of the Strategic Outline Case (SOC) and the next steps in the Mental health matters programme.

The criteria used to choose the sites were explained and the list of potential sites was presented along with an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of each site. This included:

Transport and access data for each site were also presented.

Using key pad technology, people were then able to vote on the suitability of each site according to a list of criteria.

The results of the voting were presented almost immediately on a large screen for everyone to see. Because fewer people attended the evening meetings, they saw their votes added to those registered by people who attended in the afternoon. The outcome of all the voting at all four meetings formed the basis of a report which will be made available publicly in due course.

Following the voting there was opportunity for people to put their questions to trust staff during an open question and answer session.

Click to view the Virtual Public Meeting pages.