Council delays decision on plans for hospital site

Councillors have put off a decision on the future of a defunct private hospital after complaints that local voices had not been heard.

Members of North Norfolk District Council were asked to decide on plans to turn a former mental health hospital in Catfield into 21 houses.

But they deferred a decision on the former Milestones Hospital after locals asked for more time to respond.

A Catfield parish councillor said locals' questions had not been answered.

Catfield parish councillor Janet Briscoe said North Norfolk District Council, which is based in Cromer, had not responded to questions about the application for four months.

She told a North Norfolk development committee meeting that the parish council had not been given enough time to respond, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“There has been a total breakdown of communication,” she said.

“This application has been prejudiced by a lack of response to our concerns.”

Matthew Taylor, a district councillor who represents Catfield, echoed her concerns and said the views of the community had not been "properly represented".

North Norfolk District Council officers apologised for the failure to respond to the parish council.

But they said there was enough information for members to make a decision.

Milestones Hospital, which was owned by millionaire Norfolk landowner Henry Cator, was closed in 2021 after inspectors raised safety concerns.

In 2022, a report by the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board (NSAB) into the care of three patients who were at Milestones recommended better monitoring of private provision.

"When vulnerable patients are placed in hospitals like Milestones, it's vital that our whole system works together to keep them safe." said NSAB chair Heather Roach.

"This review has shown that there are gaps in the monitoring of private provision, particularly when patients are placed in Norfolk from out of our county."

The company which ran the hospital has been dissolved.

Developer Lion Properties says building houses will give new life to a disused brownfield site.

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