'£25m health centre will help rejuvenate city'

FUNDING APPROVED FOR NEW DIAGNOSTIC CENTRE IN WEST END

- WILLIAM TELFORD

PLYMOUTH’S new £25m health centre is the “catalyst” to rejuvenating the West End of the city centre, businesses say. Plymouth City Centre Company said the new Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) will build on work to improve the area and businesses can’t wait for construction to start.

It comes as Plymouth City Council confirmed NHS England had awarded £24.788m of capital funding for the project. Council finance chief Mark Lowry told a cabinet meeting that a temporary CT scanner and support facilities could be set up in Colin Campbell Court and accepting patients by the end of September, while plans for the permanent diagnostic centre moved forward with a target of having it ready by April 2025.

The news has delighted business leaders. Steve Hughes, chief executive of the Plymouth Centre Company, said: “This is fantastic for the West End of the city centre. It is what our businesses need to build on the work we have been doing improving the area and finding new uses for empty units.

“There is a new belief amongst the mostly independent businesses but we need different kinds of employment, more housing and more visitors and customers. This development is the catalyst we need and we look forward to the work starting quickly.”