Councillors reiterate the need for new Didcot health centre as soon as possible 

At a meeting on 25 July, members of the Vale of White Horse District Council Cabinet again reiterated the urgent need for a health centre to be brought forward on Didcot’s Great Western Park. 

As Local Planning Authority, the Vale approved plans for the health centre in April. 

Responsibility for delivering primary health care lies with the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) Integrated Care Board.  

A site for the health centre in Great Western Park was committed by developer Taylor Wimpey as part of its “Section 106” planning obligations – a legal agreement often signed when planning permission is granted for larger developments.  

The two organisations have been working alongside Woodlands Medical Centre and their appointed developer Assura, as well as Vale of White Horse District Council, to bring forward the new health centre.  

Speaking after the Cabinet meeting, Cllr Bethia Thomas, said: “Great Western Park and the surrounding area have had to suffer without proper GP services for far too long. We’ve been doing everything we can for years to help the relevant partner organisations overcome the barriers they’ve been facing to bring the much-needed health centre forward. Now planning permission has been granted I would like to see some positive progress to deliver the health centre very soon.” 

Cllr Hayleigh Gascoigne, a local ward member on the Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “It’s long past time the local community gets the healthcare it’s been crying out for. It’s overwhelmingly the biggest concern people raise with me and as a local resident myself, I understand the level of frustration and very much look forward to seeing some progress.”