©2024 secret mental unit
The leader of a group campaigning against a new mental health hospital in Derby has taken her concerns to a national watchdog.
Madeline Hackett took action after we revealed last week that a secure 46-bed unit was being built in City Gate, off London Road.
People living nearby say they knew nothing about the scheme, despite it getting the go-ahead from the city council.
The hospital was approved by council officials under delegated powers, meaning the plans did not have to go before councillors.
Mrs Hackett argues that residents were not given the opportunity to put forward their views because they knew nothing about it.
Now she has written to the Local Government Ombudsman, who investigates complaints about councils.
On behalf of the 80-strong Wilmorton Residents' Group, she has called for an investigation into the way the scheme was agreed by the council.
A spokesman for the ombudsman's office said it had referred the matter to the council, which had to be given the chance to respond before an inquiry could take place.
Mrs Hackett, who lives next to the site, in Ellesmere Avenue, said: "The council's actions in giving approval to this scheme have denied us the right to either accept or reject the building of the hospital. We want the building work to stop while this is investigated."
Private healthcare company Cygnet says patients could be moved into the hospital by the end of the year but the hospital is yet to be granted any NHS funds.
Alvaston city councillors Alan Partridge and Dave Pilbeam have already called for the planning process to be investigated by the council. They claim they were unaware of the scheme but the authority says they would have received details on a weekly list of planning applications.
In a letter to the council, they have argued there should have been notices about the plan in the local press but the authority says that is only necessary in the case of developments such as listed buildings. They have also asked the council to investigate whether notices advertising the plans were posted around the site, although the authority says they were.
The pair argue that the description of the scheme as a residential facility on the weekly list of planning applications and council website was inaccurate.
Finally, they say residents should have been told, although council policy is that it only has to inform residents living within a four-metre radius of the site and says the nearest house is 50 metres away.
Wilmorton Residents' Group will meet at St Osmund's Church Hall in London Road at 1.15pm on Saturday 28th March. A petition will be available to sign.