Residents invited to tour new centre (From The Advertiser Series)

Pelton residents invited to tour new centre

2:20pm Monday 4th March 2013 in News

VILLAGERS are being invited to tour their new £4.5m library and health centre.

The Lavender Centre, on the site of the former Pelton Infant and Junior School, near Chester-le-Street, will officially open to the public on Friday (March 8).

As well as replacing the town’s old library, the centre provides a new home for the Pelton and Fellrose practice as well as the Middle Chare Medical Group and also includes a pharmacy and community room.

As well as offering GP services, the medical centre will provide a local base for services including health visitors, midwifery, district nursing, physiotherapy, counselling, phlebotomy, podiatry and chronic disease management.

Dr Anita Turner, GP with Pelton and Fellrose Medical Group, said: "We are delighted after 10 years of planning to be in our new premises.

"The Lavender Centre provides us with a spacious, bright, modern facility from which to deliver our services to the local community.

"The move will allow us to expand our team enabling us to continue to deliver the very best modern-day General Practice can offer."

Lady Ann Calman, chair of NHS County Durham and Darlington, said: "We are very pleased to mark the opening of the new health centre in Pelton.

"The new facilities are much-needed and will provide local people with a modern, state-of-the-art development in which to access health services."

Residents are being invited to tour the centre, which has various sustainable technology including rainwater harvesting, at 2pm.

Steve Howell, Durham County Council’s head of culture and sport, said: "The Lavender Centre offers modern, well-equipped facilities which will be of enormous benefit to the community.

"We are very pleased to be a part of its development and to be able to invite people to make the most of these fantastic new facilities."