Yeovil GP surgery expansion
It's to help with additional demand from hundreds of new homes.
One of Yeovil’s doctors’ surgeries could soon be expanded to cope with additional demand from hundreds of new homes.
Yeovil’s northern edge will see significant housing growth in the coming years, with the remaining elements of the Brimsmore Key Site being built out and several other sites beginning to come forward.
The Ryalls Park Medical Centre on Marsh Lane lies within close proximity to many of these housing sites, meaning the majority of patients who move into the new homes are likely to register there.
NHS Somerset has now confirmed that the medical centre will be expanded in the near-future – though it has not provided a firm date as to when this will occur.
Ryalls Park Medical Centre lies within a mile’s walk of two major developments which were recently approved on Tintinhull Road, both of which are being led by Gladman Developments.
The Congleton-based developer secured permission from South Somerset District Council in October 2022 to build 185 homes around the Brimsmore Garden Centre, with permission for a further 60 homes west of Coppits Hill Lane being granted by Somerset Council in December 2024.
Both sites lie near the eastern edge of the Brimsmore Key Site, which is being delivered by Wyatt Home and will eventually comprise more than 900 new homes, along with commercial space, a primary school and sports facilities.
In a bid to speed up the delivery of this site, Somerset Council applied in the autumn of 2024 for funding through the government’s new homes accelerator – though the outcome of this bidding process has not yet been announced.
Further to the east, two major housing developments will soon begin to take shape on the A359 Mudford Road – one of 252 homes (which was granted on appeal in January 2024) and the Up Mudford urban extension (approved in October 2024), which will eventually provide 765 new homes along with commercial space and an extension to Primrose Lane Primary School.
Funding to build new GP surgeries or to extend existing ones comes primarily from housing developments, secured through either a Section 106 agreement or payments made under the community infrastructure levy (CIL).
To prevent viability issues with new housing estates, such contributions are usually triggered once a certain number of homes within a given site have been constructed and/ or occupied, rather than being provided up front by the developer.
NHS Somerset has confirmed that Ryalls Park will soon be expanded to cope with rising demand – but declined to give a time-scale for this, stating it was awaiting contributions from the relevant developments.
A spokesman said: “NHS Somerset, via a separate specialist NHS service which works on our behalf, reviews all residential planning applications of 20 dwellings and above and assesses the potential impact that a proposed development may have on the capacity of local primary care services.
“Where such schemes are considered to impact on local primary care capacity, and where it concludes additional infrastructure provision is required, an application for Section 106 funding is submitted to the planning authority for consideration.
“We have not received any Section 106 funding to date for applications submitted in relation to Yeovil housing developments.
“Any funding that may be received in the future would be used to support the increase in primary care services’ infrastructure capacity related to that development.
“The capital funding for the Ryalls Park extension project is being provided by the building landlord.
“Further details regarding the implementation of the project are expected to be submitted to NHS Somerset, by the practice in due course.”
While Section 106 money can be used for capital projects (i.e. building new GP surgeries or expanding existing ones), it cannot be used to pay the salaries of NHS staff – with this funding coming directly from the Department of Health and Social Care.
As with the Langport Surgery expansion, adding additional capacity at the Ryalls Park site is likely to lead to several parking spaces being removed – though the precise details will not become clear until a planning application for the expansion is submitted.
Gladman has committed as part of the two Tintinhull Road developments to providing new pavements along Tintinhull Road and enhancing existing rights of way near the Brimsmore Key Site, in a bid to make it easier for residents to access local services without using a car.
A new pedestrian crossing will also be provided over Tintinhull Road, and the existing 30mph zone (which begins near the garden centre) will be extended to the west.
Further details about the expansion of Ryalls Park Medical Centre are expected to be published towards the end of the year.