| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Today's Wandsworth Primary Care Trust Board meeting - and Putney Hospital | |
| Posted by: | John Horrocks | |
| Date/Time: | 11/06/09 17:07:00 |
| Alison, You have raised an important point (about covenants) which many people have said could be critical in resolving what is to become of this site. When Sir William Lancaster and others, at the beginning of the last century, assembled the money to enable the purchase of the two villas (with their servants' cottages at the rear) which stood on this site, so that the land could be made available for the building of Putney Hospital, it could well be that, in handing over the freehold to the then health authority, he laid down covenants limiting the use of the land for health related purposes. The hospital site, has never been part of the land belonging to the Wimbledon & Putney Commons Conservators - as defined in the 1871 Act. After the Second World War, ownership of the land passed to the local health authority on the creation of the National Health Service. The freehold is now owned by the Wandsworth Primary Care Trust. If, therefore, there are covenants, then it will be for the WPCT to say so and to explain what they are. I understand that our borough council would like to know what the position is, too. I am advised that the Borough Solicitor has been asked to write to Ann Radmore, Chief Executive of the WPCT, to clarify the position. When he gets Ms Radmore's reply, perhaps Councillor Jim Maddan would like to share the information with us. We would all like to know. I suspect that, given the passage of time, all evidence of any covenants has been lost. In any case, it would not be in WPCT's interests to find them! And who would be in a position to take action to enforce them? I do hope that Cllr Maddan might be able, in due course, to shed some light on this question. |