COUNCILLORS have been left frustrated after it was confirmed that a plan for a newdental surgery in Basingstoke has been dropped.

Land at the Island Site, off Beggarwood Lane, had been set aside for a new dental surgery when the development, which also includes the Holly Blue pub and a care home, was given planning permission.

But the Gazette revealed that the 0.2-acre site will now be used instead to build a children’s nursery.

READ MORE: Dental surgery plan dropped as new owner plans kids' nursery 

Select Enterprises that bought the land from Grainger at an auction in April 2021 told the Gazette that they are not planning to build a dental surgery.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Councillor for Hatch Warren and Beggarwood Dan Putty said this was a “great deception” by Grainger.

Cllr Putty added: “It was supposed to locate a dental surgery there to cater for all the current houses and the new houses coming at the golf course and Hounsome fields.

"They sold the land for profit and now we are going to be left without a dental surgery to cater for the whole of the area. The one that we have is far too small. This is a deception.”

Cllr Putty said there are already two other nurseries in the neighbourhood and the dental surgery is the priority for the residents.

He said: “There is a nursery named Kiddi Caru in Broadmere Road. The greater need is for people with dental problems who have nowhere to go.

“I don't know what the new buyer is trying to do. The master plan was for a dental surgery, but now we are left without one.

“Select Enterprises should have taken lock, stock and barrel of the portion of land. They should have acquired that dental surgery to be built there.

"Maybe there is going to be a lot of need for children’s nursery when the new houses are built, but that should go either on the golf course or Hounsome Fields, and not on this site in the proximity of the other nursery.”

Hampshire County Councillor for the area Stephen Reid said although he thinks the nursery is a facility for the community, it is not the one that was promised.

He said: "We were disappointed to hear that Grainger had sold the site earmarked for a dental surgery on the Island site at Beggarwood. Grainger had made a big thing of their proposal for a new facility and it had a lot of support in the community.

"The dental surgery would not only have been a benefit to the community in its own right, but might also have freed up extra room for the Beggarwood GP surgery to use. This may well be needed as the number of homes in the area expands.

SEE ALSO: Plan for 50-bed care home in Kingsclere rejected

"This area still needs a new dental surgery and, as a local councillor, I intend to investigate if there are other options. I have written to the agents for the new owners to see if a dual use building might be practical - a nursery on the ground floor and a dentist above. I have also written to Bloor Homes to ask if there is a possibility of a new dental surgery in the community facilities to be built on the golf course site. We have a meeting arranged."