§ 23 and 24. Captain Litchfieldasked the Minister of Health (1) what land at present in other use will be required for the proposed hospital redevelopment in Chelsea;
(2) what consultations regarding the proposed hospital redevelopment in Chelsea took place with the local planning authority and the Chelsea and Kensington Hospital Management Committee prior to 27th June, 1961.
§ Mr. PowellNo proposals have yet been made to acquire or change the use of land. Consultation of the local planning authority has not therefore arisen. It is not my policy to disclose communications with or between hospital authorities.
§ Captain LitchfieldWhile I appreciate my right hon. Friend's difficulty in this problem, may I ask whether he is aware that there is a great deal of anxiety among residents in neighbouring streets in Chelsea which might be affected by the proposals? Is he aware of the extent to which Chelsea is becoming institutionalised? Is he aware that in the near future there will be more students in Chelsea than there are in Oxford? Does he not agree that any encroachment on residential areas in London in present circumstances is to be deprecated?
§ Mr. PowellI do not think that the last part of the question is a matter for me. I can assure my hon. and gallant 907 Friend that under my proposals the number of beds and of students in the area would not be appreciably different from that at present. On the first part of his Question, the anxiety of residents in the immediate area has been conveyed to me. My difficulty is that if I have no proposals I cannot discuss them with the appropriate authority.
§ Mr. M. StewartWill these proposals involve devoting to other use any part of the site of Western Hospital?
§ Mr. PowellThe only decision about hospital provision which is pre-judged by the proposals which I have announced is the availability of St. Luke's, and I have given an undertaking that the use of St. Luke's in the way that I have outlined in my proposals will not result in a reduction of the facilities which would otherwise be available. No other decision has been pre-judged.
§ Captain LitchfieldOn my second Question, may I ask whether the Minister will give an assurance that there will be full consultation with all the interested authorities? Does he not think that it would have reduced the anxiety in Chelsea if he had taken the local authorities rather more into his confidence before making his statement of 27th June?
§ Mr. PowellNo planning issue has yet arisen. Any planning proposal or any proposal for acquisition which I might make will have to be dealt with in the ordinary way. The purpose of my announcement at the end of June was to give notice of the general intentions about the re-planning of London's postgraduate hospitals.