P&R sees time to stop digging
The new Policy & Resources Committee's decision to halt the process of trying to build nurses’ accommodation on a field on the PEH estate is looking like another early victory for common sense.
Firstly, the committee has recognised that permission for this development was only going to be granted in exceptional circumstances, and indeed, it was advised that, with the application having sat with the Development & Planning Authority for a good year, it wasn’t likely to be successful anyway.
Secondly, work has progressed on other sites intended to ease the situation for hospital staff, making the Bordage Seath field less of a priority.
We don’t know what Health & Social Care’s view is – the committee was noticeably absent from the statement issued by P&R. But given the tone from the top of HSC has consistently been ‘give us the resources, the people, the homes for them, and we’ll give you a quality health service’, it’s unlikely to be one of widespread support.
But this is a demonstration of how this committee does politics, compared to its predecessor. Bordage Seath may have been worth considering, but its knife-edge appeal, particularly given unparalleled public and political backlash, could and should have been pragmatically resisted, particularly given the other options in train.
As everyone knows, when you’re in a hole, there’s a time to stop digging.