DEVELOPER Alfred McAlpine is asking Malvern Hills District Council to cut the cost of the Pickersleigh Road depot site by £100,000.

The request was made at a meeting yesterday (Thursday) between the developer and the council.

The depot site has been earmarked for a new health centre, replacing two doctors' surgeries elsewhere in the town.

The meeting was called after the project ran into trouble earlier this month, because of rising costs.

Kevin Douglas, of MHDC, said Alfred McAlpine had asked the council to reduce the price of the site from £500,000 to £400,000.

"They are also asking us to cover costs of about £125,000, mainly the cost of the roundabout," he said.

The request will go to the executive committee meeting on Tuesday (October 25) as an urgent item.

No-one from Alfred McAlpine was available for comment.

In a separate development, Aldred McAlpine's planning application for the health centre was approved by a district council committee on Wednesday evening. Members voted unanimously to approve it.

n QUESTIONS were posed about the future of Malvern health projects at a meeting on Tuesday.

Tim Davies and Alec Kendall, of South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, were grilled by the district council's overview and scrutiny commission.

Dr Davies, the trust's deputy chief executive, said the draft business case for the Seaford Court hospital should be presented to the board in December, and a detailed plan could be ready by March.

Speaking about the offer of free land for a new Malvern hospital, Dr Davies said the trust was waiting to hear from the landowner's solicitors. He said the offer would not delay progress on the Seaford Court plan.

Councillors and members of the public were concerned how PCT chairman Mike Ridley's departure to Stoke would affect local health projects.

Dr Davies said the trust would not exist in its current form beyond July 1 next year and it was difficult to say what affect the interim arrangements would have.

n A DRAFT concept plan showing how the site of the current Malvern hospital should be developed was published today (Friday).

It can be inspected at the Customer Care Centre, Malvern Library or at www.malvernhills.gov.uk. Copies are available on 01684 862151.

Comments should be in by Friday, December 2.