RESIDENTS in North Swindon were yesterday invited to a public consultation on the building of a new medical centre right in the heart of North Swindon’s Tadpole Garden Village.

Developers GVA laid out their plans for residents to scrutinise before their eventual submission to the council in the next few weeks.

The proposed site for the 0.36 hectare medical centre is on a plot of land north of Tadpole Lane and immediately west of Greene Street.

The three-storey centre will include state-of-the-art consulting and treatment rooms, an ancillary pharmacy and room for up to 33 GPs to work.

It will be operated by three of the town’s current medical centres: Westrop Surgery, Carfax and the North Swindon Practice.

Richard Rees, Westrop’s practice manager, said: “So far, we have had great feedback from people. Residents are very keen to see more medical provision in North Swindon.

“Because of all the different resources – from physiotherapists to pharmacists – we will have the opportunity to treat people before they need to see a doctor. There are so many things people go to a doctor’s surgery for when they can just as easily see other health care professionals.”

The centre will be funded entirely by the NHS, though the final costs are not yet known.

Richard added: “There will also be two training rooms and five trainee doctors on site at any given time. This means that we will be much more likely to retain good quality professionals in the long term.”

Tim Scruton, GVA’s project manager, was pleased by the positive responses from residents and is keen to see the plans submitted to the council as soon as possible.

He said: “We are looking to get the project completed by March 2019. We are only on the first step of the journey at the moment, but it all looks very promising.

“People who live in the community definitely want to see this new facility up and running. In terms of patient experience, we are going to be able to offer a lot of great facilities for people from all over North Swindon.”

For more information contact GVA on 0117 988 5321 or email charlotte.taylor@gva.co.uk.