I understand the decision will be made quite soon regarding the proposed new hospice site at Belton Way, Leigh.

I am no stranger to hospices. A friend of my family was lucky enough to get her dying wish of going to Fairhavens Hospice the night before she died.

Knowing she was at Fairhavens soothed her and made her death much less stressful for her. This was greatly appreciated by her family as they knew others have not been able to be admitted, through lack of spare beds.

Another dear friend was taken into a fairly modern hospice which did not have the accommodation to give individual rooms. With ten patients on a ward she could see others dying.

My youngest brother-in-law died in a hospice a couple of years ago and I still feel very emotional about the lack of facilities offered to his wife and the strain this put her under.

If she wanted something to eat while sitting with him, she was terrified she would be away from him when he died.

I know the proposed area is green belt, but I hope Southend Council grants the wish of most residents to allow a purpose-built hospice with facilities for patients and their families.

We do not want a room in a converted house, where we have to apologise to pass by a trolley in tight corridors.

This proposed area may not be in my back yard, but even if it was, I am sure I should be very proud to have it there.

Mary Buckmaster
Macintyres Walk
Rochford