Healthcare property developer Prime has unveiled plans for an “urban health and care village” in Woking town centre, comprising a mix of healthcare and community facilities alongside residential units.
Prime unveils its mixed-use healthcare hub in Woking
In partnership with Woking Borough Council, the urban health and care village aims to incorporate accessible healthcare services to regenerate an under-used high street.
The 500,000 sq ft development, which has a GDV of £200m, would comprise approximately 200 later living apartments and around 300 build-to-rent homes.
Prime said discussions are ongoing with the local NHS integrated care systems to confirm the type of healthcare provisions in the village, but that it has earmarked space for audiology, community diagnostics, dermatology as well as primary care facilities.
The developer expects to submit planning for the Woking health and care village later this year.
Prime is also in the early stages of creating plans for urban health and care villages in six other towns in the UK, all with a GDV of between £125m and £200m.
With purpose-built community and health facilities bespoke to each area, Prime claims a town with a population of between 95,000 to 100,000 can fully access a scheme measuring 250,000 sq ft and above.
Prime chief executive Leighton Chumbley told Property Week that it had been working with its Woking council-appointed developer partner Coplan Estates, to develop out the site to “refashion” into a health and care village.
He added: “Everybody has recognised that the town centre is the heart of the community and, therefore, you need to attract the whole community, not a subset of the community. We know that from a department of health perspective, there’s a strong desire to see services delivered out of hospital and into the community. Here you have the perfect answer. You’re not just moving it out of the hospital into another suburban area, you’re moving out of the hospital and actually putting it into the heart of the community, which is, for me, the high street.
“If you consolidate that particular use alongside other symbiotic uses like housing with care, you deliver something to the town centre that is new and revitalises space that is no longer required for their original purpose.”
