Exclusive: Leaked documents show Quinn Super Hospital at Canterbury would cost £127 million

In leaked documents given to our public face on a visit to one of the hospitals run by East Kent Hospital University Foundation Trust, they show the cost for the proposed new super hospital in Canterbury, including a 5% contingency, will be £127,189,650.

A copy of the proposal letter  can be downloaded at the bottom of this blog post.

The proposal by Quinn Estates owned by Mark Quinn, makes clear that a large scale health provision in Canterbury will be perceived to be to the detriment of health provisions in other parts of the county. This perception will need to be managed and will form a key part of the NHS review of options available to them to fit in with their overall strategy for East Kent as a whole. Who will manage the perception for Quinn & the Trust, the local press/media?

Quinn Estates costs for the proposed new super hospital are broken down as follows:

• Predicted Hospital shell blended Build Cost rate £155 per sq ft x 591,100 sq ft = £91,620,500

• Total Infrastructure Costs £22,762,500

• Plus Car Parking (Circa 600 spaces) £6,750,000

• Total Upfront Build costs to Fund £121,133,000

• Add 5% Contingency £127,189,65

The proposal sent to Finbarr Murray, Director of Estates and Facilities at EKHUFT (pictured), by Quinn Estates, makes it clear:

• “The shell building, car parking and associated infrastructure will be constructed at the outset and given to the Hospital Trust at nil cost, and for clarity, the proposal does not encompass any of the existing Trust owned land.”

The Hospital will be provided by shell building, with all services provided to an agreed point within the main structure. All landscaping, hard standing and access to the building will be provided, along with car parking to accommodate circa 600 cars. It is envisaged that the shell will be provided in a wind and watertight state, with a concrete frame and an outer brick skin. Windows will be provided along with canopies and solar shading as necessary. Provision will be made for suitably sized lift shafts as well as stair cores throughout the building. Floors will be left as finished concrete and the external walls will be plaster boarded and skimmed ready to receive paint finishes. Floor to ceiling heights will be set at approximately 4.4m to allow for suitable internal room height with sufficient clear voids above to receive mechanical and electrical services as needed to service the building. The full detail of the shell specification will be worked up in conjunction with the Trust’s estates team to ensure that the building is designed with the end-users requirements acknowledged at the outset and the frame, building, services and external works designed to accommodate these.

The proposal would bring forward a comprehensive residential led development, incorporating a new hospital shell building, circa 591,100 sq ft, with appropriate access and associated car parking for approximately 600 spaces, alongside a comprehensive residential scheme of circa 2,250 new homes, new education, sport, leisure and community facilities serviced by a significant infrastructure provision.

The site for the new hospital is currently under the ownership and control of 5 major landowners, these being:

• The Wacher Family 161.2 acres

• Kent County Council 14.57 acres

• Canterbury City Council 23.5 acres

• The Pope Family 21.5 acres

• A C Hume 11 acres

The potential developer Quinn Estates has realised from the outset that such a proposal might attract a Judicial Review and in the proposal sent to the Trust states:

• There are potential JR risks to a number of elements of the proposal and these risks will need to be identified early and mitigated or planned for early in the process. These could arise from:

1. Challenge to the options considered under the STP process

2. Challenge to the planning process to consent granted

3. Challenge to due process being followed by the relevant public bodies involved in the proposal.

Mr Quinn is no fool. He hasn’t donated in excess of £138,362.05 to the Tories since 2015 for nothing.

There is an understanding (rarely made explicit) that campaign donations buy political access and favourable consideration in policy development and legislation. Why else would his company, which is bound by law to pursue profits, make these donations?

He has made financial donations to both the Conservatives and to Labour. He understands this is a long game.

Between the 1st August and the 27th Sept 2019 alone, Quinn Estates Ltd has donated £37,500 to the Conservative Party. The last donation came four days before footage on the 1st Oct emerged from a fringe meeting at the Tory Party conference, capturing the Rt Hon Boris (Dolus) Johnson MP and Prime Minster as saying:

• “Yes, we are going to invest in the southeast. Yes, of course, we are putting money into hospitals. I’m delighted that Canterbury, for instance, is going to be one of the new hospitals we are building.”

A day later, the Department for Health and Social Care (DoH) downplayed the claims, acknowledging that no immediate plans were in the pipeline.

• Has Quinn Estates campaign donations bought favourable consideration in policy development?

• Did the Prime Minster, Boris (Dolus) Johnson let the cat out of the bag about a super hospital in Canterbury?

• Does the one hundred thousand pounds worth of donations  mean favourable consideration will be given by the Tories, for  Mr Quinn’s proposal for a new super hospital for Canterbury?

In April 2018 Mr Quinn donated £12,000 to the Labour Party plus had a meeting with the Rt Hon John Healey, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing to advise and discuss Housing Policy.

Donations to political parties are perfectly legitimate. This is how British Politics work.

Here’s Boris with one of the owners of Cozumel Estates, billionaire Simon Reuben, who through his company has donated nearly £1 million to the Conservatives, along with his billionaire brother David Reuben.

Of course, a Super Hospital in Canterbury is not a done deal, as no application for planning permission has yet been lodged with the Canterbury planning department.

We suspect this may well rumble on for a few years before any planning decision is handed down. It may well have had, and gained “favourable consideration” already. Stranger things have happened.

Here is the proposal letter sent to Finbarr Murray of EKHUFT.

Quinn Estates Proposal for New Hospital in Canterbury

Both Quinn Estates and the Trust were asked for comment before publishing, but a reply there has come none.

The Shepwayvox Team

Dissent is NOT a Crime