History of Castel Hospital is another reason for its redevelopment as housing

I DO NOT always agree with Deputy Peter Ferbrache’s view but, on the subject of the Castel Hospital, I agree with him wholeheartedly. The island is in desperate need of housing whether for key workers or otherwise. The Castel Hospital site is ideal for development with little, some would say’ in the way of architectural merit. It has been neglected for years, as have so many structures in the care of the States, and will continue to be so until it crumbles and becomes dangerous. One point which Deputy Ferbrache has alluded to but did not pursue – many of the older generation of islanders will remember the hospital with abhorrence because of the treatments meted out to 'inmates' as they were then termed; from young people being locked up for life for the crime of being born with such conditions as Down’s Syndrome or ‘idiocy’, to those people who were apparently subjected to electric shock treatment for their bipolar disorder.