HOPES that the beleaguered Petersfield childrenÕs group Acorns 2000 could build a new home on the former Red Cross site in Readon Close have been dashed this week.
County councillor John West told a meeting of the town council that the site was not big enough for Acorns 2000Õs plans, unless the ambulance station site next door was also used.
ÒBut the ambulance service is not prepared to relocate unless 100 per cent of their costs are met,Ó Mr West told the meeting.
Town councillors have been pressing the county council to help Acorns 2000, which is desperately looking for a site to build a new home.
The group has been planning a new multi-purpose building aimed at bringing all the local agencies concerned with young children under one roof in the centre of the town.
But it received a bitter blow recently when a government planning inspector threw out the plans for The Avenue pavilion.
And shortly after that the group was devastated when East Hampshire District Council refused an extension of planning permission for a temporary building next to the Avenue Pavilion which housed the toy library.
Town councillors believed the county-council owned Red Cross site would be ideal for Acorns 2000 as it was close to the playing fields in Love Lane and mid-way between the schools.
It is known that Le Court, the Leonard Cheshire home based at Greatham, has been investigating the possibility of using the former Red Cross centre as a resource centre.