Thornbury Town councillors have questioned plans to buy land surrounding the town's health centre.

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) are looking into the possibility of buying land surrounding the health centre and hospital, currently owned by North Bristol NHS Trust and NHS Property Services respectively.

The idea, put forward by Cllr Matthew Riddle (Con, Severn Ward), followed the news that a bid for £10million of government funding to redevelop the health centre had been unsuccessful.

He said that buying both sites and renting them back to the NHS could put the council in a much stronger position.

Speaking at a meeting of Thornbury Town Council's Finance and Policy Committee last Thursday, councillors suggested SGC did not have the money necessary to purchase the land.

Cllr Clive Parkinson described the news of the failed bid as 'devastating for the town' but said he could not see how the council could buy the land considering they 'cannot even afford to run a youth club in Thornbury'.

Cllr Shirley Holloway agreed that it was 'not possible'

David Jarrett, the area director for South Gloucestershire at the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire CCG, was at the meeting and reiterated his commitment to redeveloping the health centre and ensuring services remained in Thornbury.

He said they would 'continue to develop options to fund the development' but admitted they had not yet received any feedback as to why the bid had been unsuccessful.

Mr Jarrett confirmed a land valuation process had begun and would take 4-8 weeks.

A spokesman for South Gloucestershire Council's Conservative leadership group said: “The strategy of Thornbury town councillors over the past 30 years, standing back and expecting the NHS to deliver the facilities for them, has failed.

"It is something we need to move on from and think creatively, which is why this proposal has been put forward.

“The council remains as committed as ever to seeing the delivery of enhanced healthcare services in Thornbury, having already set up a £50million property investment fund for potential projects like this that can provide a commercial and social return to our communities, and we are keen to see a fair price and terms being offered for the land.

"Having worked closely with our local NHS to deliver increased opening hours at the Yate Minor Injuries Unit, we will continue to work towards improve health services across the district.”