A private cosmetic surgery clinic is poised to expand in Tunbridge Wells with plans to open a second “cutting edge” clinic near the city centre. The company has been so successful that it has already expanded into the town once before and now needs a new site.
The clinic has submitted an application for a large building in the town centre that will house three operating theatres. According to planning documents, the facility is expected to handle between 75 and 100 patients a day, 15 of whom will be day surgery patients and 10 will need to stay overnight. The initiative is being developed by Belavo, a well-known plastic and reconstructive surgery company that already has a clinic in Pantiles. According to the report to Tunbridge Wells Borough Council’s planning committee, the clinic has already undergone one expansion at its current site but still needs more space. It will keep the Panttiles clinic while opening a new clinic in a large, attractive old office building on Mount Ephraim. Mount Ephraim, a wide street that runs from near the Millennium Clock to near Mount Ephraim, has become much cleaner and more beautiful in recent years.
There were once elegant Victorian villas for people to live in, but now most have been converted into offices, many of which have traditionally been the offices of law firms. Longford House will be the new home for Bellavo, which means it will need to change its use from office to healthcare.
The new clinic will undergo extensive renovation, including offices, reception areas, three operating theatres, rest areas, recovery areas, consulting rooms, massage rooms, photography rooms, overnight “stand-by” rooms, a lounge, and a kitchen for night staff. Belavo opened in 2015 in the Market Building in Pantiles and expanded to the magnificent Grain Exchange four years later. But the report states: “By 2022, both sites will no longer be able to meet their development needs.” Their commercial success and expansion led them to look for a larger site, which led to Langford House.”
“The clinic at Panttiles will remain and operate in parallel with the new clinic at Langford House,” said the report to the city Hall planning committee this evening (March 5). The report also said 29 existing parking Spaces would be retained.
The clinic will be staffed by 40 day staff and 8 night staff. Kent County Council’s Kent Roads department raised concerns about potential parking problems in the area, as well as “irregular parking habits”.
But the report noted that the inconvenience did not involve highway safety issues, and also said the site was highly sustainable and only a five-minute walk from public parking. The council report summarises Mr Belavo’s opinion, which reads in part: “This development demonstrates the applicant’s clear desire to build on the success of the existing clinic at Panttiles, to continue to invest in the local economy of Tunbridge Wells and to create new jobs.”
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