Ruling is an “important victory”

Campaigners are celebrating after Benjamin Court was declared as an Asset of Community Value.

The Save Benjamin Court Campaign applied for ACV status to be applied to the former NHS facility, where a reablement service was closed in 2023.

The building has remained unused ever since NHS chiefs at Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board decided against reopening it and handed it back to NHS Property Services for disposal.

Martin Booth, a spokesperson for the campaign, called the ruling an “important victory for the people of north Norfolk”, saying he hoped things would progress swiftly to get things up and running once more.

Campaigners argued that the site should not be sold off but preserved so that it could be used as a neighbourhood health hub – providing vital health and social care services for the local community.

In order to meet the criteria of an ACV, a facility needs to have provided a service which “furthers the social wellbeing or interests of the local community” either currently or in the recent past, and there needs to be a realistic prospect of such a service being provided in the next five years.

Campaigners presented evidence to North Norfolk District Council’s legal team showing that Benjamin Court had fulfilled all these criteria as it had provided a vital service until it was closed, and it could be reopened with relatively little difficulty.

Their arguments were accepted and the facility is now protected for the next five years.

“This ruling reinforces our case, and allows time for Benjamin Court to be favourably considered as a neighbourhood health hub in line with the government’s objectives of moving healthcare into the local communities,” said Martin.

“We call on those responsible for delivering health and care in our area to lose no time in making that happen.”

Visit youtu.be/OM7UKok39tg to watch a video put together by the campaigners to show how the building could be used again to help the community, offering health services and rehabilitation.