Land at the former Littlehampton Hospital has been placed on the market for £895,000 without residents or their MP being told. I am calling for the sale to be stopped. If the NHS presses ahead regardless, every penny of the net proceeds must be ring-fenced for Zachary Merton Hospital.
I am absolutely furious about the proposed sale of land at the former Littlehampton Hospital.
This 0.68-acre site has been placed on the open market, with residential and commercial developers invited to bid. I was not told. Residents were not told. I discovered what was happening through the Mayor of Littlehampton, rather than from the NHS organisations responsible.
That is an appalling way to treat our community.
At the recent public meetings in Rustington, NHS leaders spoke repeatedly about openness, transparency, and rebuilding trust with residents. Those words now ring completely hollow. You cannot promise to take people with you and then quietly market former hospital land without even informing them.
Littlehampton Hospital closed more than 20 years ago. Residents were promised replacement healthcare provision, yet it never arrived. Local people campaigned, raised money, and trusted the NHS to honour that commitment. They are still waiting.
Now, while the future of the inpatient beds at Zachary Merton Hospital remains unresolved, the NHS is attempting to dispose of land from another lost community hospital. It would be outrageous to allow the value of that land to disappear elsewhere while local healthcare provision is being reduced.
My position is clear. This sale should be stopped.
Before any disposal is considered, the NHS must publish who declared the land surplus, what assessment was made of alternative healthcare uses, and why residents and elected representatives were excluded. We also need a complete account of what happened to money previously raised, donated, or earmarked for replacement healthcare in Littlehampton.
If the NHS proceeds with the sale despite local opposition, the full net proceeds must remain in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. Every penny should be ring-fenced for the repair, refurbishment, and reopening of Zachary Merton as a functioning community hospital.
NHS Property Services’ existing policy provides for 50 per cent of the net proceeds from qualifying sales to return to the local health economy. In this case, 50 per cent is nowhere near good enough. Our community has already lost one hospital. It must not lose the land as well, only to see half of its value taken away.
I have written to Siobhan Melia, Chief Executive of Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, and demanded a joint response from the Trust, the Integrated Care Board, and NHS Property Services. I have asked them to stop the sale, explain how this was allowed to happen, and agree a binding plan to invest the proceeds in Zachary Merton.
Now I want residents to have their say.
Please complete my short survey below and support my call to keep this money where it belongs: funding healthcare for the community from which it came.