Ground-breaking ceremony to be held for Townlands

A CEREMONY to mark the start of the redevelopment of Townlands Hospital in Henley will take place on Monday.

It will be held in the Maurice Tate Room but will not be open to the public, although people involved in campaigning for the new hospital are expected to be invited.

On Tuesday, Henley Town Council agreed to hold a public celebration later in the year.

Councillor Ian Reissmann, who chairs the Townlands Steering Group, said he was “disappointed” that the ground-breaking ceremony would be held in private.

He said: “I think that [developer] Amber Solutions for Care and NHS Property Services have missed an opportunity here.” Amber secured a £16 million agreement with NHS Property Services to redevelop the 2.36 hectare site into a state-of-the-art “health campus”.

The company will upgrade and maintain the hospital site in partnership with Vinci Construction.

The site will include a 64-bed care home, which will be owned and operated by Oxfordshire Country Council and a care provider that hasn’t yet been confirmed.

This will replace the Chilterns End care home, which is run by the Orders of St John Care Trust. There will also be the new Sue Ryder hospice, which will move from Nettlebed, and 12 key worker homes.

The new hospital is expected to open in 2016.