It was with jubilation that members of the Save Haslar Task Force received the news that the Ministry of Defence’s preferred developer for the regeneration of the former Royal Hospital Haslar site was ‘Our Enterprise’.
Our Enterprise, a community interest company, is one of the many groups which have had talks with the Save Haslar Task Force over the possible future use of the site.
The Task Force, and in particular Councillor Peter Edgar, met with and showed representatives of the group round the site, highlighting the great potential on offer.
“It fits in perfectly with their plans for a veteran style village, much like the Chelsea Pensioners style of residency, and with its fantastic history, it lends itself perfectly for this type of occupancy,” said Councillor Peter Edgar, spokesperson for the Save Haslar Taskforce.
“Their keenness to make use of the medical facilities is also great news. We have fought long and hard to maintain healthcare for local people at Haslar, but sadly both the MoD and Portsmouth Hospital Trust eventually withdrew from the site. If this project means that some form of community healthcare can still be provided then I think our long, tough and at times heartbreaking campaign may not have been in vain.”
As well as the veterans village and community healthcare provision, Our Enterprise is also looking to provide student accommodation and a commercial centre on the site, which overlooks the Solent and includes a garden which is of National Parks & Gardens status and approximately 75,000 square metres of buildings, 13 of which are Grade 11 listed.
“Our aim has always been to retain the hospital facilities for healthcare and, although we may not have achieved the full blown A&E which the public hoped for, some form of healthcare provision remaining at Haslar is a big step forward,” added Peter.
“The outlook up until last year was grim. We all expected to see the site boarded up, with buildings gradually falling into disrepair until a developer finally brought it to develop yet another housing estate, something nobody wanted to see. To that end we introduced people who we thought may be able to utilise the facilities to their best advantage, to the site. We know from the support and the correspondence we received from retired service personnel, whilst we were fighting to save Haslar that they were devastated to hear of the hospital’s closure. The fact that the historic buildings, the fantastic gardens and the hospital in some way may continue to serve our retired service personnel in their twilight years is tremendous, we couldn’t have wished for a better outcome.”
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