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Opening Day
at Shelley Manor
The long journey
to rejuvenate Shelley Mannor passed a significant milestone this
week with the opening of the Doctor's Surgery in the East-wing of
the building.
Thanks to the
Terrance Higgins Trust the work is now complete and I was delighted
to participate in the opening ceremony which officially handed the
premises over to Dr Poulten and his team.
The significance
of this event cannot be understated for this building, one of Bournemouth's
oldest, was almost demolished five years ago. The campaign lead
by the local residents' group 'The Friends of Shelley Manor' have
worked tirelessly to prevent the previous Liberal Democrat Council
from turning the complex into flats. I joined the group with the
objective of persuading the local Primary Care Trust (PCT) to agree
to the relocation of the West Boscombe surgery into the East-wing
of Shelley Manor, which would allow the West-wing to used as a community
and theatre.
As a relatively
young town, Bournemouth has little heritage or cultural links. As
the chart on the right shows, we do have a connection with Sir Percy
Florence Shelley son of Mary Shelley, author of the famous novel
Frankenstein.
With the doctor's
surgery now complete, we will have to wait a matter of months for
until the opening of the new community complex which will include:
• A new
Theatre
• Conference facilities
• Cafe/Restaurant
• A literary museum
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