Former care home in Rotherhithe acquired by Southwark Council

NHS put for sale the former specialist care home at 1, Ann Moss Way last year and Southwark Council was successful on their bidding and it is now the owner. The intention is to demolish the property and provide new housing for council rent in its place.

Peabody Trust is also consulting on their plans to build 61 homes in the former Out-Patients building, which was converted into the 17-bedded St Olave’s House Nursing Home and the disused ambulance centre

Southwark Council Decision details

1 Ann Moss Way, Rotherhithe and flexibility to acquire sites for council housing development

Decision Maker: Cabinet

Decision status: Recommendations Approved

Is Key decision?: Yes

Is subject to call in?: Yes

Purpose:

Authority to acquire a former specialist care unit as a potential site for new council housing.

Decisions:

RESOLVED:

Decisions of the Cabinet

1.  That pursuant to s120 of the Local Government Act 1972 and s9 of the Housing Act 1985, the council be authorised to acquire the freehold interest in the property shown edged red on the plan at Appendix A of the report.

2.  That the principal purchase terms, set out in full in paragraph 5 of the closed version of this report and substantially in paragraph 18 of the open report, be authorised.

3.  That authority be delegated to the director of regeneration authority to agree the details of the acquisition.

Decisions of  the Leader of the Council

4.  That authority be delegated to the director of regeneration in consultation with the strategic director of housing and modernisation, the strategic director of finance and governance and the cabinet member for social regeneration, great estates and new council homesto acquire sites in furtherance of the delivery of the council’s housing delivery programme.

5.  That in light of the amendment to recommendation 4 and for clarity, the report title for both open and closed reports be changed to:

1 Ann Moss Way Rotherhithe and flexibility to acquire sites for council housing development.

Report author: Patrick McGreal

Publication date: 23/01/2019

Date of decision: 22/01/2019

Decided at meeting: 22/01/2019 – Cabinet

Effective from: 31/01/2019

Accompanying Documents:

About St Olave’s hospital

St Olave's Hospital gatehouse

St Olave’s hospital once stood in what it is now this residential street. One of the two original remaining buildings still standing on the site of the hospital was bought last year. Many will recognise the gatehouse for its famous blue plaque marking the birth place of well-known British actor Michael Caine and it is one of the stops on the route to discover the history of the area.

The rest of the vacated Hospital buildings became derelict and were demolished.  The site was redeveloped in the 1990s and is now a housing estate. You can read more about the history of what it was known as the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Infirmary in the following link

Another building, still legacy of the old hospital




In 1979, despite the wards, operating theatre and kitchen facilities being improved, the District Health Authority decided to ‘temporarily’ close the Hospital to save £1.5m within the group. A new Day Centre for psychogeriatric patients, constructed at a cost of £40,000, remained unused. Services within the Hospital began to be run down and within the year all acute services had been transferred to Guy’s Hospital (the philosophy at that time was that complex back-up services needed by acute patients would only be available in district general hospitals).

LOST HOSPITALS OF LONDON


Note of correction:

A previous article claimed incorrectly that the gatehouse was bought by the council, which is not accurate. The changes in this post rectify previous inaccuracy.