Community Fears Over Mental Health Unit Development

A Perth community group is claiming re-development proposals for a prime hospital site could ruin part of the city. The controversial plans for Murray Royal Hospital include a new medium secure unit and 200 homes.

Richard Salvin and Deirdre Beaton the surrounding Kinnoull area is going to suffer if plans for 200 homes and new mental health treatment facilities go ahead as part of re-development plans for Perth’s Murray Royal Hospital site.

Community Councillor Deirdre Beaton said: “This area is a lung for Perth, it is used a lot. There’s a football pitch here, it’s the only football pitch on this side of the river and youngsters do use it. It’s a breathing space for Perth and I would hate to see all this green space lost.”

Community Councillor Richard Salvin said: “Any further development in this area would be catastrophic traffic wise because simply by their own admission at a public meeting the planning department stated that Bridgend could not take any more traffic and everything would have to come through the Bridgend junction to get here.”

There are also some concerns about a new regional medium secure unit that will house former Carstairs patients.

NHS Tayside Chairman Peter Bates said: “The medium secure unit will be staffed in a clinical model with security appropriate to patients who no longer need high security. I think if any members of the community read or hear sensational headlines they should put them in the bin.”

NHS Tayside says it is for Perth and Kinross Council to decide how much can be built on the site. Plans for the £68 million re-development of the hospital facilities will be debated by councillors next week.