Listing plan delays new hospital

Sagle Bernstein gave the money to the hospital that cared for her sister

A project to build a new £12m hospital in north Norfolk will be delayed while English Heritage considers whether to list parts of the current site.

English Heritage is looking at listing parts of the Cromer and District Hospital which was built in 1932.

It has written to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust about the listing process which could take between four and six months.

The new hospital is being paid for out of a legacy left by Sagle Bernstein.

Dutch gable

The tendering process for a new three-storey hospital building will now have to be put on hold until such time as English Heritage and the government have reached a decision regarding listing parts of the hospital.

The parts of the building of architectural interest are the Dutch gable entrance and the old ward veranda.

Trust chairman David Prior said: "We do understand that English Heritage has an important role to play in our nation's heritage and we look forward to working with them.

"Nonetheless, this new development is a blow at a point when we had started the long-awaited redevelopment process for a new state-of the-art NHS hospital for local residents."