The future provision of primary healthcare for a growing Warwickshire community has been secured following the completion of a ‘complex’ land acquisition deal, negotiated by real estate law specialists at Midlands firm Lodders.
Work begun this month on the new £4million, 1,400 sqm Wellesbourne Medical Centre, which will replace the village’s existing Hastings House surgery, and provide a fit-for-purpose primary care facility that will be used by GPs, nurses and other local community healthcare providers.
With completion scheduled for early 2019, the new building will be three times the size of the current surgery, and provide a ‘state of the art’ primary care facility at the heart of the village, with 24 clinical rooms and improved access to an increased range of services.
Head of Lodders’ real estate practice Paul Mourton led the firm’s team working with the surgery’s healthcare practitioners, headed by its senior GP partner, Dr Martin Read-Jones.
Working closely with the trustees of the Walton Estate, NHS England, the local South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group, and a team from Persimmon Homes that has begun work on a 350-homes development in the village, the land acquisition paves the way for the much-need medical centre, as Paul Mourton explains:
“Wellesbourne needs a larger, modern medical centre, not least to accommodate the village’s growing population that has been significantly boosted by the 350-home development underway by Persimmon Homes.
“This was a very involved and complicated transaction,” he says, “but by working closely with all parties, including the team at Hastings House surgery, we have successfully navigated the acquisition of the land for the new medical centre, including the compliance planning obligations under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 that were critical for the transaction to complete.”
Dr Read-Jones adds: “We are very happy that work has now begun on the new Medical Centre, and equally so with the professional, supportive, and responsive advice we’ve had from Lodders. A great deal of work was involved, and Lodders’ expertise, legal skill, knowledge, support and first-rate service were vital in reaching an excellent conclusion to this first major project for the team.”
Working alongside Paul Mourton was commercial property specialist Constantine Berry, a Senior Associate at Lodders, who said: “Maintaining communication with all parties throughout the process was critical. Plans for the new centre were initially made in late 2015; to reach completion of the transaction we assisted in the sale of the centre’s current site, lease-back of the site from the new owners to ensure continuity of the provision of healthcare services whilst the new Centre is built, acquisition of the land for the new medical centre, and securing funding.”
Dr Read-Jones adds: “Paul’s negotiations with Walton Estate and the NHS early in the process were a vital building block for the ultimate success of the scheme. Constantine worked tirelessly to ensure the final documentation and negotiations were pulled together on time and on budget. An all-round excellent service that proves Lodders’ is the number one law firm in the region.
“I believe the new Centre is an important step for future-proofing healthcare provision in the area,” he says. “The project will secure the provision of primary healthcare services in Wellesbourne for the next generation and beyond, to support an expanding village community and its growing population. With a facility three times the size of the current practice, we can now look to expand our team of doctors and healthcare professionals within the next two years.”
For more information about Lodders: www.lodders.co.uk
Lodders is a premier law firm in Stratford upon Avon, Cheltenham, Birmingham and Henley in Arden. The firm has 25 partners and over 130 fee earners and support staff across its office network. With its portfolio of sector and market specific top-ranking legal teams, the firm has recorded year-on-year growth in recent years.
