PATIENTS have declared they will battle on against plans to centralise healthcare services at a medical facility on an industrial estate. The long-running saga of the Kennedy Way Health Centre in Clacton took another twist yesterday when health bosses voted in favour of a new planning application.

PATIENTS have declared they will battle on against plans to centralise healthcare services at a medical facility on an industrial estate.

The long-running saga of the Kennedy Way Health Centre in Clacton took another twist yesterday when health bosses voted in favour of a new planning application.

The trust wants the modern operation to replace four outdated GP practices in Great Clacton and Holland-on-Sea but the venture has angered hundreds of residents who are opposed to having to travel to the site in Valley Road.

But Tendring Primary Care Trust (PCT) said yesterday it was confident the changes made since an application failed last February will silence the critics.

Since then, the trust has been consulting about public transport schemes and is now committed to a health shuttle service and the establishment of two satellite clinics in Great Clacton and Holland-on-Sea.

The shuttle will be free to patients and run between 8am and 8pm. It will operate in addition to existing ambulance and dial-a-ride transport services.

But Hugh Morrison, the chairman of the Holland-on-Sea residents action group, said the plans were still flawed.

“It is still an industrial site and will always be, that fact will not change. There will be the danger from 40ft lorry trailers going in and out of the complex.

“We will be fighting them all the way, 54% of the population of Holland-on-Sea are of retirement age and people should have the guarantee of being able to see a doctor locally.

“We are planning the next stage of the campaign to oppose it, we will be bombarding them with letters and sending letters to all councillors in the Tendring area, seeking their support,” he said.

A spokesman for Tendring PCT said: “We are very happy with this new planning application and are confident that it addresses the specific issues of transport and accessibility which councillors were concerned about first time round.

“We look forward to submitting this new application in the hope and anticipation that this project can now move forward.”

The plans will be submitted to Tendring District Council shortly.