YORK Central MP Rachael Maskell says it is an “absolute scandal” that the Bootham Park Hospital site is still lying empty at a cost of millions of pounds to the taxpayer when it could be used to benefit people in York.

The hospital closed in 2015 and plans to turn it into a luxury care home came to nothing.

The York Central Labour MP is now calling for action to secure the site as a “community asset” which would see the building used by a mix of businesses, start-ups, and charities, and the land turned into a public park with playing fields, and 100 per cent affordable housing.

And during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons yesterday she called on Sir Keir Starmer to withdraw the site from sale and “get Bootham back” for the people of York.

In reply, the Prime Minister pledged for Government ministers to work with Ms Maskell and City of York Council to “get the right deal for the site”.

In her monthly column to The Press, Ms Maskell said: “I want our building back with its magnificent park too. It is an absolute scandal that the state has just squandered this opportunity and now they are saying that they are waiting for another investor. It must be for the people of York.”

The Bootham Park Hospital site in York. Image: Frank Dwyer

Bootham Park Hospital was gifted to the people of York by the philanthropists of the day, and from 1777 to 2015 served as what became one of two mental health hospitals in our city.

Ms Maskell said that NHS Property Services, which now has possession of the site, has only sought a commercial buyer, and has spent £5.5 million of taxpayers’ money to keep the building empty – adding she wants it used for “public benefit”.

Helen Turnbull, of NHS Property Services, told The Press that hospital site had been up for sale for many years with no offers from the public sector.

She said: “NHS Property Services is obliged to sell it in order to deliver best value for the NHS as a whole and reinvest funds into the NHS.

“It is now under offer and when completed would secure public access and local schools with sports’ facilities and a new cycle path, whilst enabling a long-term viable use for a heritage building.

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“The planning permission allows for the former Bootham Hospital to be converted to retirement living.

“During our marketing, NHSPS incurred substantial costs to ensure its security and maintenance due to its heritage status.”

Since its closure, Ms Maskell says she has been “working to ensure that the public gain from the old site”.

And she lays out her vision for the site in her article in today’s Press.

“Businesses and start-ups could have thrived on the site, charities could have benefitted from some space in the city, and over the years I have talked to universities, public services and so many more who saw opportunity to benefit the city from occupying Bootham Park Hospital.

Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central Image: UK Parliament/PA Wire

“Other cities have used old mills, prisons, schools and other buildings to provide a multi-use asset to their community. If we look to Saltaire, it is the centre piece of their World Heritage Site, and as York prepares for such an accolade, we too should look to have such an incredible building for the benefit of our city.”

And she called on the Government to look at the issue afresh.

“This goes to highlight the importance of seeing vacated public assets as being primarily for the benefit of communities, not as a commodity to sell.

“A sale would only bring a receipt to the Treasury, but an investment in our community would provide so much more economic and social value,” she said.

“With the council eager to develop 100 per cent affordable housing on public land, the fringes of the Bootham Park site could provide much needed homes for local residents too.

“Now I return to the campaign to bring Bootham back so public land can be used for public good.”

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