A fourteen-year saga over what to do with an abandoned hospital could be about to come to an end.

Plans to turn Standish Hospital, vacant since 2004, into flats and houses have been recommended for approval by Stroud district planning officers, despite opposition from nearby residents, parishes and the Ramblers Association.

A developer, PJ Livesey, has proposed 147 units for the site: 48 flats within the existing hospital buildings and 99 new builds across its grounds.

 

Some parts of the hospital, like the Grade II listed Standish House, would be restored by the developer while others, like the Westridge unit, are set to be demolished.

The plans are the latest in a long string of ideas for the hospital after it closed over a decade ago - and after a battle to keep it by the Save Our Standish campaign, which handed in a petition to Parliament with 40,000 signatures.

The hospital was first set up by the Red Cross to treat soldiers injured in World War One. It later became a sanatorium to treat tuberculosis and then was used as a US Army medical facility during World War Two, before being taken over by the NHS in 1948.

At one point since its closure, the county council considered turning the hospital into a ‘health campus’ with supported living options and care of the elderly and disabled, while another plan would have seen the hospital become a spacious country home.

But now it is the turn of Manchester-based PJ Livesey, having successfully bid to Homes England to redevelop the site.

The developer had originally submitted plans for a housing redevelopment in 2017, but later resubmitted it for a re-design.

This has still prompted letters from the public objecting to the plans, however, with concerns for the listed buildings, the size of the development, the lack of affordable housing, and the fact the hospital is located in a conservation area.

A spokesperson for the PJ Livesey said: "We have worked very hard with Stroud District Council over the last three years to design a scheme that will save six historic buildings and protect the parkland setting while also providing a wide mix of new housing.

"This is a key moment for this significant site and we very much hope that the committee agrees the plans that will bring it back into use.”

District councillors will be making a final decision on the plans at a development control committee meeting tomorrow night.