The new Greenhithe Medical Centre is now due by summer 2028, not the end of 2027, at a cost above £10m. Plans to shrink its top floor are in. Updated November 2026.
The new Greenhithe Medical Centre is now expected to open by summer 2028. That is about six months later than the council forecast last December, and the estimated cost has risen to more than £10m.
Dartford Borough Council and NHS Kent and Medway set out the new timetable on Wednesday (council announcement, 4 November). Work could begin in early 2027 and would take about 16 months. Both depend on approvals and funding that are not yet in place.
How the date and the cost have moved
| When | Estimated cost | Expected finish |
|---|---|---|
| January 2025 council report | £8.2m | No date in the report |
| December 2025 announcement | "In the region of £9 million" | "Before the end of 2027" |
| November 2026 announcement | "More than £10 million" | "By summer 2028" |
The council’s announcement does not mention the earlier date or explain the change. It has committed £3.6m of Community Infrastructure Levy, the charge it collects from developers. The rest depends on an NHS business case, which is still going through NHS approvals to secure the capital funding.
The council says it intends to start the construction tender before those approvals finish, so that work can begin in early 2027.
The January 2025 report said a grant agreement would place the project’s costs, “including any likely increase in costs”, on the NHS board. It described the £3.6m as a one-off allocation. The new announcement does not say how the extra cost will be met.
What is changing in the design
The council bought the site at Steele Avenue from Kent County Council in March 2026 (council announcement, 25 March). The site already had planning permission, granted in May 2024 (application 23/00145/FUL).
An application has now gone in to amend that permission:
- the overall floor area would shrink
- the cut falls mainly on the second storey and the roof level facing St Clements Way
- staff and administrative facilities would stay
- the council says clinical and treatment space would not be reduced
A smaller top floor has been tried before. A similar amendment went in during March 2025, seeking a “reduction to the second floor accommodation”. It was withdrawn that July (application 25/00330/NONMAT).
We searched the council’s planning register on 5 November and could not yet find the new application.
What the centre would provide
The building approved in 2024 has these features, according to the committee report and the January 2025 Cabinet report:
- 1,698 square metres of floor space over three storeys, including the parking undercroft
- 47 parking spaces, five of them accessible
- 14 consulting or examination rooms, four treatment rooms and a minor surgery unit
- room for an estimated 150,000 appointments a year in core hours
The amendment could alter the floor space figure. The announcement does not give the revised numbers.
The centre would bring two GP practices, Swanscombe and Bean Partnership and Temple Hill Group, into one building. It would replace three branch surgeries, which have six clinical rooms between them:
- Elmdene Surgery, 273 London Road, Greenhithe
- Greenhithe Surgery, 32 London Road, Greenhithe
- Ivy Bower Surgery, 7 Ivy Bower Close, Greenhithe
The two practices had 57,615 patients on their lists in October 2024. Over the previous five years Swanscombe and Bean had grown by 7,463 patients and Temple Hill by 5,080. The Cabinet report said nearby housing sites could add around 1,600 homes and some 3,900 people.
What the council and the NHS say
Jeremy Kite, the council’s leader, said: “There is still work to complete before construction can begin, but we have real momentum behind the project and a shared determination to get it delivered.”
Chris Neill, interim chief commissioning officer at NHS Kent and Medway, said: “Our residents have told us improving access to GP services is a top priority for them.”
What it means for you
If you use Elmdene, Greenhithe or Ivy Bower surgery. Nothing in the announcement changes where you go now. On the new timetable, those surgeries would not be replaced until about summer 2028.
If you want a say on the design. The council says residents will be able to comment through the normal planning consultation. Dartford usually prints more than one deadline on an application, so check our planning guide and use the earliest.
If you park at Steele Avenue. The Cabinet report describes a car park of around 30 spaces on part of the site, used by residents and by commuters for Greenhithe station. In 2024 objectors asked where that free parking would go. The announcement does not address it.
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