£2,000,000 SCHEME.

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17224, 6 October 1927, Page 10

£2,000,000 SCHEME.

CARE OF MENTAL CASES. GARDEN CITY NEAR LONDON. LONDON, August 24. Plans for a great garden city for mental defectives on a beautiful estate on the outskirts of London are at present engaging the attention of the Middlesex County Council and the Ministry of Health. The council has bought nearly two square miles of land, comprising the Porter's Park estate and the disused Shenley aerodrome between Barnet and St. Albans. When the proposals have been sanctioned they will proceed with a £2,000,000 scheme that will give them by far the finest and most up-to-date mental institution in the world. Two separate establishments arc planned alongside each other—a hospital for normal mental patients who may recover under treatment, and a colony for certified patients. Some idea of the magnitude of the scheme may be gained from the fact that the garden ci',y will comprise over 100 buildings, and will house a population of 5000-4000 patients and 1000 staff.

The present mansion house, once the home of Admiral Lord Howe, is to be used as a home for paying female patients, and all the numerous existing buildings on yie estate will be adapted io the work of the institution. Villas and Cottages. Hardens and farm lands will be worked*by the patients for the benefit of the township, all the buildings of which will bfi designed to give the maximum of light, air, and open space. Villas and cottages will be scattered throughout the grounds, where parties of from 30 to 60 patients can be housed and treated together in an almost homelike atmosphere. The plans for this gigantic scheme include the erection of: —

A reception hospital where every patient will he examined on arrival.

Block of administrative offices. Laboratory with the most up-to-date equipment in the world. Two churches, one to seat SOO. An assembly hall for 1000 people, with a stage for concerts and kinema.

Gymnasium, Home for 200 nurses. Hospitals for infectious cases. Infirmaries for age©*patients. Cottages, playing fields, school, and recreation hall for children. Laundries" and bakeries. Workshops, where patients will engage in various trades. Houses for doctors and cottages and villas for oilier members of ihc staff.

A water tower, 130 feet high, which will dominate the whole township.

Throe Years' Work. Of the total area of 1i67 acres bought by the County Council at a cost of £BO,OOO, 6G7 will he utilised in the laying-out of the garden city; the remainder, occupied by a farm and the Porter's Park Coif Club, cannot be touched till leases of from eight to nine years have expired. The task of construction is expected to occupy fully three years, and will give employment to thousands. An official of the council said to a Daily Chronicle representative: "The scheme is absolutely necessary. At present the council cannot accommodate its mental patienls. Existing institutions are full, and cases have to be farmed out all over the country. The institution will be easily the finest of its kind in the world, and the most skilled medical knowledge, the best treatment, and the latest methods and equipment will be available.