DAVID Seaman (Put Hospital on the RAF site?,Letters, September 10) has a great idea for RAF Uxbridge when it closes.
I had the same idea when we first heard news of its closure.
I know that the Hillingdon Hospital rebuilding plans for the Pield Heath location are with the Department of Health but doesn't it make much more sense to build on the RAF site when it becomes available whilst still operating in the present buildings?
This would avoid the inevitable problems of phased demolition and construction on the same confined area.
It may be that Whitehall rules stand in the way of land transfers from Defence Estates to NHS use.I hope not.
The new hospital location has so much going for it: better transport links - bus and Tube - and the potential for improved visitor and staff parking on a main road; less traffic congestion; less confined site space for medical and nursing staff accommodation; more central within the borough; built within a new development site; integrated with private and social housing; public open space and heritage features.
The existing Pield Heath Road site could be sold for private and social housing and public open space.
The revenue stream from the sale could go towards the new building project costs.
David Seaman says that, when he raised his idea with Councillor [Ray] Puddifoot he was, in effect, fobbed of and told it was 'purely a matter for the Primary Care Trust'.
Not so, as he knows very well, the council's planners will be involved.
The council is seeking our views on the future of the RAF site.I add my support to locating our hospital there.
ROGER DEWEY,
Ferndale Crescent, Cowley.
