A planning application has not been submitted to renew or replace a GP surgery and walk-in centre that is due to close next month.

The Wilson Health Centre, in Cranmer Road, is home to the only walk-in centre in the borough, and is due to close its doors to its 5,876 patients on March 31.

The chair of the Merton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Dr Andrew Murray, told a packed meeting into the closure that the CCG had already extended the lease on the site three times, and had put submitted another planning application two months ago to extend the lease again in case their new plans for the site could not be realised.

These new plans include transforming the site into a ‘health and wellbeing centre’, complete with some medical facilities and other ‘community components’ including arts and crafts, a job centre and an open green space for gardening.

Feb 1: Wilson Health Centre closure: Building houses on part of site 'cannot 100 per cent be ruled out'

Wimbledon Times:

The packed public meeting

The meeting, on Tuesday, January 31, also heard that building work would begin on the site in March 2018, with the aim of completing construction by December 2019 and opening the new centre in June 2020.

Councillor Ian Munn raised concerns at the meeting that it did not appear a planning application had been submitted to Merton Council, but was told by Dr Murray that the closure and regeneration of the site was "absolutely a joint project with the council."

However, a spokeswoman for Merton Council confirmed that a planning application has not yet been submitted for the site as of today, Tuesday, February 7.

The spokeswoman said: "We look forward to receiving the planning application from the CCG and we will work with and advise the CCG throughout the planning process to ensure their application is determined and the end result is the best for Merton.”

MP for Mitcham and Morden, Siobhain McDonagh, organised the public meeting and has been an outspoken critic of the plans. A petition she set up against the closure has already attracted over 800 signatures, and she has written a formal letter to the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP, to ask for help.

Jan 30: 'A lot of people are very worried': Siobhain McDonagh MP urges re-think into closure of Wilson Health Centre the only medical practice with walk-in services in Merton

Wimbledon Times:

Siobhain McDonagh MP

Ms McDonagh said: “It’s just a mess, isn’t it? It’s a very serious mess.

“It’s difficult to pin down exactly why they are closing it. I was hoping to hear at the meeting the definitive arguments for why they want to close the centre, but we got no more of a clear idea than we had before.

“As far as I know, there are still thousands of people who need to be registered with another surgery.

“If the surgery has to be closed by April 1, and people are saying construction work will begin in 2018, then that’s two or three years the site could stand empty. And that’s an optimistic assessment, if there’s still no planning application then it seems like it’s likely to be longer.”

A spokeswoman for Merton CCG said: “The CCG was advised by NHS England that NHS Property Services had put in a further application and the NHS England representative did say this was the case this at the meeting.

“We have made further enquiries following the meeting and correspondence from the council and have been told that while an application was prepared it was not actually submitted.”

To sign the petition, click here.

What do you think? Email letters@wimbledonguardian.co.uk