A CONTROVERSIAL new health facility has been given the go-ahead after receiving more than £6 million from the government.

The Department of Health has announced it will provide £6.44 million towards the new development in Dursley.

It will mean the closure of Berkeley Hospital, the Sandpits Clinic in Cam and the Symn Lane Clinic in Wotton-under-Edge.

Gloucestershire health officials announced last year that a £40 million debt had to be cleared and health facilities in the Berkeley Vale would need to be centralised in Dursley.

The proposals faced fierce opposition at the time and despite a long campaign involving protest marches and petitions by residents, GPs, councillors and politicians, it was announced last September that Berkeley Hospital along with the other clinics in Cam and Wotton would close.

Health chiefs have said the new facility in Dursley should be open by spring 2011 and that Berkeley Hospital and the other clinics will not be closed until this happens.

Work will now begin on gaining planning permission and confirming the site for the scheme.

It has long been rumoured that the new facility would be built on the Littlecombe site, allowing the cash-strapped health service to benefit from the developer's Section 106 agreement, under which it provides funding.

Eugene Camper, a member of the Berkeley Hospital League of Friends who have campaigned to keep Berkeley open, said: "This is absolutely disappointing.

"This announcement has come quite out of the blue and seems somewhat optimistic if they still have no permission and no site."

But Dr Simon Opher, from May Lane surgery in Dursley, welcomed the news.

He said: "Providing healthcare facilities in one purpose built campus will be extremely beneficial to local patients.

"Localising care and treatment where possible and minimising the number of miles that patients travel is a positive way forward and will enable us to help more people in their own communities."

The new campus is proposed to include a minor injury unit, an intermediate care unit to bridge the gap between hospital and home, a radiology suite with X-ray, ultrasound and provision for mobile services, out patient services, including treatment facilities for minor surgery and a dental suite for community dentistry.

It will also provide a new GP surgery for the expanding population in the area.

Jan Stubbings, chief executive of the Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust, said: "The PCT is committed to community health facilities. This funding will enable us to take forward our proposals for new healthcare facilities in Dursley that meet the needs of our local communities.

"These are the first of our proposed developments to increase the provision of community facilities for patients in Gloucestershire."