PLANS to build a new doctors' surgery on church land in Basingstoke have been shelved after it was decided the scheme was not financially viable.

Doctors from South Ham Surgery, in Paddock Road, had been working with St Peter's Church in Pinkerton Road on an idea to knock down the existing church hall, making space for a surgery and a new hall to be built side-by-side.

Clergy at St Peter's knew from the start that they could not afford to pay for the new hall and were hoping for a deal whereby the hall would be self-financing.

However, this idea never took off and as a result the church has shelved the planned partnership.

The Reverend Mary Phillips, team vicar at St Peter's, said: "St Peter's would have been more than happy - indeed enthusiastic - to enter into a project with the GPs to help provide doctor cover in South Ham as we know how important both spiritual and physical wellbeing are.

"However, from the very outset we had laid our financial situation before everyone concerned, making it clear that we had no money to add to such a scheme.

"The funding did not stack up at all. We needed to find an enormous amount of money and we simply could not afford it.

"We would look forward to hearing from the doctors in the future if they felt we could help in some way."

Dr Stephen Hudson, senior partner at the surgery, would still like to do a deal with the church.

"The door is not completely closed," he said.

"We have not ruled out a straight purchase of some open land at the back of the church, but it is still early days."

The surgery is looking for new premises as it has outgrown its current home on Paddock Road.

"The current practice is too small for the population we serve and we have parking problems as well," added Dr Hudson.

"With the Overbridge Surgery due to close some time in the next two years and our General Medical Services (GMS) contract requiring us to do more primary care, we need more room.

"We are supposed to be taking the weight of patients away from hospitals, but we can scarcely cope. We do not have enough space."

Doctors at the surgery have been looking to move and expand for a number of years.

Plans to build a surgery to share with a local dentist on the junction of Stag Hill and Pinkerton Road were scrapped in 2003 after local residents opposed them.

First published: Friday, March 4