End of an Era

I suppose it was inevitable but it was still with a tinge of sadness that I saw this week that the Fair Havens Hopsice building on Chalkwell Avenue was put on the market for sale.

I think it would be very rare for any local families not to have had call to use the facilities there. My grandfather visited towards the end of his life and the care and services he was provided still comfort me and my family. As with so many converted buildings it was not really fit for purpose opening way back in 1983 and more often than not bursting at the seams but as ever with the NHS the staff were the driving force behind the care and compassion that was received by all of its guests.

The building of a brand new £17,000,000 purpose built hospice facility near Priory Park will be welcomed by the staff and locals alike and I am sure will continue to offer the extremely high levels of care that we have become accustomed to. Anybody that has visited the Little Havens site in Daws Heath can see the benefits of a purpose built building and with the provision of 16 bedrooms plus increased facilities for day care the new Prittlewell site will surely be an improvement.

But what of the Chalkwell site?

Having been converted from 2 large houses on Chalkwell Avenue and having a further detached house on Second Avenue that is currently the Fair Havens offices it is probably inevitable that this site will become yet another block of flats.

The price has not yet been released but it is unlikely that it will be viable for any developer to reinstate the original buildings as detached houses as they have been altered so much over the years. And with the site being plenty big enough for ample parking it will probably be quite a few flats that are proposed.

We will wait to see with interest who purchases the site and their plans. I am sure that they will divide opinion whatever they plan to do.