First view of new south Shropshire GPs' surgery

The new surgery at the former Muller England site off Vaughan Road in Cleobury Mortimer will include a number of treatment rooms, a dedicated pharmacy and parking for up to 64 cars.

Plans for the new medical practice, which could be open by the summer of 2014, went on show at a meeting at Cleobury and Rural Local Joint Committee at Lacon Childe School in the town last night.

Delighted campaigners who have fought for a number of years for new facilities in the town, have claimed the new surgery will be a 'victory for democracy'.

Healthcare developers Matrix Medical submitted a planning application to Shropshire Council earlier this month, which included detailed drawings of the layout of the T-shaped, two-storey building.

The new surgery will replace existing cramped facilities at Pinkham, which centre bosses have claimed are no longer fit for purpose. And it will cater for people living in the town and a number of surrounding villages, with bosses hoping it will help cater for an anticipated rise in the local population with several housing developments in the area in the pipeline.

Jenny McCrorie, chairman of Cleobury Patients' Voice – a group set up to represent patients' views which has spearheaded the public campaign for a new medical practice – said she was delighted.

She said: "It is a real triumph for local democracy. We have been campaigning for this for nearly three years and now it looks to be finally on the way.

"We are still waiting for planning approval from Shropshire Council but there have been no objections and we hope this will be just a formality."

"This is a community-driven project and we think it will be an excellent facility. Once it gets through planning work will start and we expect completion around September next year."

Ashley Seymour of Matrix Medical said the new medical practice would take a year to build and said he hoped it would be open by the summer of 2014.