What a breath of fresh air from Danny Chambers, the Lib Dem candidate!  Of course a new hospital should be built on the army’s Flowerdown barracks site rather than houses. 

It is a large government-owned plot of land with easy access for ambulances, staff, patients and others from all directions via the A34 / A303 / M3 including the city itself.  The old hospital site is congested, on a steep hillside making internal movement difficult and with much of it too ancient to be used sensibly. 

New houses could then be built in its place on this city centre site and, forgive me if this is a revolutionary thought, the residents could WALK to the station, offices, shops, cafes, pubs, restaurants, events and the new leisure centre and NOT use their cars, which notwithstanding any bus service or cycle route, they would be sorely tempted to use if they were isolated nearly three miles out of town.  Isn’t that what our fine city council wants?

Having read the consultation document, why have three half-baked hospitals – Basingstoke, J7, and Winchester when you can have two proper ones with probably little change to staffing logistics?

I, and I think many others, will vote for anyone who will act upon such practical common sense.

Yours,

David Briggs

Harestock Road 

Winchester

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