Funding agreed for new Buckley Health Centre building

Funding has been agreed for a long awaited primary health centre to be built in a Flintshire town.

Community leaders and health watchdogs have been calling for a new medical centre to be built in Buckley for about 10 years.

The Welsh government has agreed to provide funding towards the costs of rebuilding Buckley Health Centre.

The local health board is still in talks with a developer before plans for the clinic go to council planners.

A spokesman for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) said the new premises will house two GP practices situated in the existing Buckley practice along with space for clinical services.

It will be relocated to the site of the former Ysgol Belmont school site on Liverpool Road.

Local residents had hoped the new building could stay in the town centre.

But health watchdogs from Betsi Cadwaladr Community Health Council (BCCHC) said this would not have been possible to allow for a bigger facility with sufficient parking.

Flintshire branch chair Gordon Donaldson said committee members had reacted with dismay over delays last year but now they are delighted funding has been agreed and the work can go ahead.

He said existing facilities were "no longer fit for purpose" and residents had a "great need" for modern, purpose-built premises.

Meanwhile, work has just finished on a purpose-built "super clinic" serving 8,000 patients in nearby Mold based on the New Street car park.