Plan for ambulance response post in Bexhill approved

Councillors in Rother have approved NHS plans to open a new ambulance post in Bexhill.

On 10 October, Rother District Council’s planning committee considered proposals from South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (Secamb) to create a new community response post at an industrial estate in Beeching Close.

According to the application, the proposals come as part of the trust’s wider Make Ready Strategy, a programme intended to restructure where ambulances wait for callouts.

In this case, ambulance crews would begin their shifts at a Make Ready Centre in Hastings (where maintenance and deep cleaning of the vehicles would take place), before making their way to the community response post to wait for callouts.

Councillors were supportive of the plans.

In the application, a Secamb spokesman said: “The proposed development provides an opportunity to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the ambulance emergency service as part of the rolling out of the Make Ready Strategy.

“The proposal will improve the health and social conditions of the area and it is in overall accordance with the development plan policies.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the trust currently has another community response post in Beeching Road, less than 656ft (200m) from the new facility being proposed.

It is unclear from the application what the proposals will mean for the existing facility.

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