A planning application has been submitted for Government's first Urgent Care Centre, in St. David's.

The Bermuda Hospitals Board facility is earmarked for Hall Street, Southside, and will include a reception area, laboratory and radiology, treatment rooms, pharmacy, nurses station, staff lounge, IT room and ambulance station.

Health Minister Nelson Bascome has pledged the first centre will be operational by April of next year. Government allocated $2.5 million in this year's Budget for the Southside clinic, and a second centre in Southampton is proposed for next year's capital plan.

Government says the Urgent Care Centres will offer treatment for "non-life-threatening conditions that require quick attention", such as bone fractures, influenza and minor cuts and bruises. The facilities aim to reduce the pressure on King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Mr. Bascome said in February: "We intend to aggressively pursue the establishment of Bermuda's first Urgent Care Centre over the next fiscal year and the first patient will walk through the door not later than April 1, 2009.

"An Urgent Care Centre reduces rates of inappropriate Emergency Department utilisation by triaging non-emergency patients to less acute settings."

Elsewhere on the Island, Rubis Energy is to renovate the Warwick Shell garage. The development will include a commercial building or restaurant, plus a bus stop along South Road.

Agents Woodbourne Associates say the development is part of an Island-wide upgrade by Rubis Energy "to meet new initiatives and standards for reducing the environmental impact of existing fuel service stations".

In a letter accompanying the Planning application, Robert Godfrey said the refurbishment will involve "the replacement of ageing fuel storage tanks, pipelines, pump and distribution equipment, and also improved facilities for dealing with fuel waste and the separation of oil/water run-off".

"Warwick Shell remains the longest serving station on Shell's inventory to have not been upgraded and its renovation is now proposed," he said.

The existing station however, will remain operational during construction, "to facilitate the necessary upgrades without disrupting service".

Once operational, the new garage will include a convenience store, toilets, and hot food. The larger forecourt will also feature parking spaces, air and water facilities.

The old station will then be decommissioned and a new commercial building constructed in its place.