Brentwood Gazette reports on plans for new GP surgery in Doddinghurst

Following the photoshoot on 28 May, this week's Brentwood Gazette carried a story entitled Furore as Surgery Plans New Facility which focused on how the proposed new surgery would overshadow the Grade-II listed building next door at Deal Tree Farm.

Resident of Deal Tree Farm, Catherine Russo, told the reporter how only a couple of years ago she was refused permission to convert an outbuilding into a stable block as it was felt by planning officials that the converted building would dominate her 15th century farmhouse. Yet now there are those who consider it appropriate to build a huge two storey surgery right next to her house - something which would be far more likely to dominate the farmhouse than the previously proposed stable block conversion.

The printed version of the article included a photo of angry local residents protesting next to the Green Belt field where the local GP hope to build their new surgery.

It also included a sidebar comment from Dr Nigel Butler in which he threatened that he and his fellow doctors would leave Doddinghurst altogether if the Council refused to grant permission for their new surgery in the Green Belt.

Personally, I doubt this would actually happen and, even if it did, the PCT would surely have suitable procedures in place to deal with such an eventuality.

So it will be interesting to see whether those responsible for planning decisions and the safeguarding of the Green Belt in the Borough of Brentwood allow themselves to be held to ransom by this type of potentially empty threat from Dr Butler.