News REVIEW oF 2002

A £345,000 refurbishment of Otley's neglected public swimming baths got underway.

But a former chairman of Otley Advisory Sports Council said the work would only return the Chippendale Pool to how it was 25 years ago.

Work to the pool at Prince Henry's Grammar School planned to include refurbished changing rooms, a new roof and new heating boilers.

Councillor John Eveleigh, leader of Otley Town Council said: "The council has invested a great deal of money in this project and the benefits will be felt by Otley residents when the pool opens this Spring."

A flood-hit hamlet near Pool-in-Wharfedale was set to benefit from half-a-million pounds to build flood defences.

But residents of Castley Lane were worried that the work, due to start in May 2002, would be stopped before it began because of problems with planning and cost effectiveness.

The plan was to build a mile of embankment three quarters of a metre high that would benefit 16 houses and three farms in Castley Lane.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: "We are aiming for a start date in May. We are still in consultation with landowners and the exact alignment of the embankment has yet to be agreed."

Nearly £1 million from the Rural Bus Challenge scheme was awarded to bring more people into Otley Market.

A total of £802,800 from the scheme combined with £80,000 each from West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority, Metro and the Otley Market Town Initiative brought the total to £962,800.

The scheme was set to see the community served by more school buses, evening community transport service, better bus shelters, after-schools club service, and a door to door dial-a-ride service at off-peak times.

Other services were expected to connect the outskirts of Otley with the town centre.

There were also plans to promote existing local cycling routes.

February

Flood-hit residents were once again counting the cost after the River Wharfe burst its banks.

Some residents faced bills of thousands of pounds after flood waters rose sharply more than a metre above normal levels - and in some places higher than the autumn floods of 2000.

Bus services were cancelled, roads were closed and people were ferried across the river in a dinghy after police closed the bridge in Otley.

Calls were made for the promised £500,000 flood defences at Castley Lane to be built without delay.

Farmers returned to Otley's auction mart - a year after it was closed because of the foot and mouth crisis.

Strict bio-security measures were in place and sales split into two - for animals destined for slaughter on Mondays and stock animals on Fridays.

Every vehicle and person entering and leaving Wharfedale Farmers' Auction Mart, Leeds Road was disinfected and no one was allowed onto the site unless absolutely necessary.

Those getting anywhere near the cattle and sheep were checked for clean clothing and boots and had to wash and dry their footwear while moving about the site.

Angry parents of Otley schoolchildren were planning to take Leeds education chiefs to the High Court.

In a last ditch attempt to reverse a decision to close two of the town's primary schools, parents were seeking a judicial review.

Having had their first attempt for a review turned down by the High Court, they took it to the Court of Appeal.

A final decision to close All Saints Junior School and Thomas Chippendale was made in March 2001.

March

Foot and mouth disease restrictions beat plans for livestock at Otley Show - for the second year running.

With only ten weeks remaining until the show, organisers ruled out the return of cattle and sheep because of DEFRA restrictions.

Instead the show planned to include alternative attractions such as vintage tractors and cars, a larger exemption dog show and hoped to secure a visit from world-renowned 'horse whisperer' Monty Roberts.

Show secretary Janet Raw said it would be 'virtually impossible' to ensure all the DEFRA requirements for having cattle and sheep at the show would be met.

Labour snatched back control of Otley Town Council - and paved the way to a major £300,000 revamp of Otley Civic Centre.

At an emergency meeting -called by Labour in an attempt to reverse the budget - Labour councillors were accused of making the most of the absence of two Liberal Democrats to swing the vote in their favour.

Labour councillors resumed chairmanship of all the council's committees and sub committees after stepping down in January after failing to get their budget through.

A Yeadon pensioner was due to have his case heard at the European Court of Human Rights after a vital operation was cancelled once again.

Ronnie Holliday had three operation dates at Wharfedale Hospital, Otley cancelled and claimed his human rights had been infringed because he couldn't be treated abroad.

The 71-year-old who needed a hip and double knee replacement received a case number from the European Court telling him he was in line for his case to be heard.

April

Industry in Aireborough suffered a heavy blow with the announcement of 86 redundancies at Guiseley's Crompton Lighting factory.

Employees of the firm learned that the lighting and lamp production operation at the Guiseley works on Netherfield Road would come to an end this year.

A total of 67 production staff were expected to lose their jobs in May, with the remaining 19 staff losing their jobs in September.

Part of the production operation was planned to move abroad where the company says costs are lower. The announcement came just a matter of weeks after Silver Cross announced that it was finally back on its feet after years of uncertainty.

Concerns about the look of the planned new £14 million Wharfedale Hospital threatened to delay its start date of May.

Leeds City Councillors were unhappy about the choice of stone, the colour of the roof, the number of car parking places and the fact that it resembled a 'research building' more suited to the south.

In an attempt not to delay the start of work on the new hospital, which will be built next to the current Wharfedale Hospital in Newall Carr Road, Otley, councillors agreed to hand over the decision to planning officers.

Serious problems surfaced in the tendering process for work to remodel Otley primary schools.

At an emergency meeting of Leeds City Council's Executive Board councillors were told all tenders were higher than expected and did not represent value for money.

And in an effort to make sure all four schools open as planned in September they were asked to consider calling in entirely new contractors.

It was estimated that the work would cost in the region of £1.5 million.

May

Retailers gave the thumbs up to a new crime-busting initiative.

Around 20 shopkeepers in Otley signed up to the new Thumbprint Signature Scheme.

Aimed at cutting down the number of stolen credit cards and cheques passed over to retailers, the scheme also aimed to protect card holders by alerting police to stolen cards.

For £10, shopkeepers were given a small gel-based pad, used to take a thumbprint and put on the back of credit card slips or cheques. The print is kept and then passed on to police if the payment is proved to be false.

It was announced that a summer playscheme enjoyed by generations of Otley children was to wind up in summer 2002.

Tighter regulations and a shortage of new organisers brought about the demise of the Otley Summer Playscheme after 27 years.

The chairman of the scheme, Lisa Grimes said it could only be saved if enough new organisers came forward to take on all the duties and if new sources of funding could be found.

Otley's first ever farmers' market was declared a huge success.

Despite appalling weather, thousands of people flocked to the Market Place to snap up seafood, buffalo burgers, venison pie and essential oils.

Stall holders sold out within two hours and a seafood seller from Whitby, North Yorks, sold one dressed crab every minute within an hour of opening.

Ian Stewart, Market Towns Initiative manager, said he believed more than a thousand people flocked to Sunday's market.

June

Wharfedale's Golden Jubilee celebrations came to a climax as hundreds of people gathered around a huge beacon on Otley Chevin.

The beacon which was on the same site as the Millennium Beacon was lit at 10am and burned into the early hours.

And although numbers were nowhere near the thousands who jammed all roads to the Chevin 25 years ago, organisers heralded the event as a massive success, saying there was a huge sense of community spirit.

It was revealed that some Otley schoolchildren would return to temporary classrooms after the summer holidays.

Ongoing problems with the remodelling of four primary schools meant building work would either finish days before the start of the new school year or by the middle of September.

Work was due to be finished at the new Westgate Primary and The Whartons Primary by the end of August.

But at Ashfield Primary, Weston Lane, internal work was due to be finished by the end of August but two new classrooms were not expected to be finished until September 13.

Meanwhile a contract for the majority of work at All Saints Primary School in Lisker Drive had still to be awarded and work was not expected to be completed until at least the second half of the autumn term.

An end of living with the threat of flooding was in sight for families in a Wharfedale village.

A £1 million flood defence barrier for Castley was given the final go-ahead by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - and construction work on the scheme was due to start within a fortnight.

The contractors were expected to start work on the earth embankment on July 1.

Residents, who had campaigned for flood defences for years, welcomed the news and hoped that their flooding misery would finally end.

July

Parents desperate to get their children into Otley's Prince Henry's Grammar School looked to have won their fight.

Governors at the school had met to discuss a temporary increase in admission numbers.

If governors were sympathetic, a formal request was then going to be put to Leeds City Council's chief education officer, Keith Burton, who could employ delegated powers to allow the children in.

Parents battling to stop the closure of an Otley school made a last ditch appeal - 'help us now or live to regret it.'

Convinced they could reverse the closure of All Saints Junior School, they called on the town for its overwhelming support.

They said unless people rose up now, the North Parade building would be boarded up, built on and lost to the town forever.

The parents action group had already won its right for a judicial review into the September 2001 decision by the Leeds Schools Organisation Committee to close the school - and two High Court judges could now order the committee to reverse its' controversial decision.

It was announced that Otley All Saints Junior School was to be put up for sale - and the city council was set to get the lion's share of the proceeds.

The imminent sale made it look almost certain that the North Parade complex would be sold off for housing and not turned into a library or other community resource.

Although the Bradford Diocese owned the site - including the North Parade school, the adjoining caretaker's cottage, two playgrounds and the annexe in Bridge Street - it stood to get less than 20 per cent of the proceeds of the sale.

August

The mother of a four-year-old who lost a leg after contracting a deadly virus, was battling to find a bigger house for her daughter's return from hospital.

Danielle Skilbeck was struck down by meningitis.

She was in intensive care at Leeds General Infirmary where she had the bottom of her right leg amputated. She also faced the possibility of losing part of her left leg.

The council vowed to continue searching for a suitable three-bedroom home, so Danielle would be able to have her own room on her return from hospital.

The family of meningitis victim Danielle Skilbeck heard the news that the council had found them a three-bedroom house.

After the Wharfedale Observer revealed the plight of the family, the council telephoned with the news.

And Danielle was fighting back against her illness. She was taken off the oxygen ventilator at St James's Hospital, Leeds and was making rapid progress.

The plight of four-year-old Danielle Skilbeck captured the hearts of the nation with donations reaching £4,500.

Danielle had both her legs amputated below the knee. And mum Lindsey Pollard received the devastating news that Danielle would lose all her fingers and possibly her kneecaps.

The youngster was also due to undergo a skin graft and it was hoped she would be discharged before Christmas.

September

Months of traffic chaos were set to hit Otley as strengthening work was planned on the bridge.

Engineers were looking into the state of the 300-year-old Otley bridge and how traffic could be handled while work took place.

They were expected to finish a feasibility study in October ahead of going out to public consultation.

Although a decision was yet to be made, the choices were likely to be either the building of a temporary Bailey Bridge to take traffic, or making the bridge single lane only.

Receivers said that 34 people would be made redundant at Guiseley's Silver Cross factory and the business had been put up for sale.

Receivers from Deloitte & Touche were called into the world-famous pram factory after 'financial irregularities' of £3 million were found at its parent company, the Design Company.

Receiver Angus Martin was forced to cut a quarter of the company's workforce resulting in 34 redundancies at Guiseley and 26 at the Manchester based Design Company.

He put the Otley Road business up for sale and was hoping a buyer would come forward promptly.

Work on the new £13 million Otley Wharfedale Hospital finally got underway.

Three months after it was due to start, following more than 20 years of campaigning, building of the new hospital next to the current one on Newall Carr Road started - just days after the health trust and the builders sorted out last minute details.

MPs, councillors and health leaders were united in their delight that the new hospital - billed as a future centre of excellence for health care - is at last being built.

October

Allegations of anti-social behaviour amongst school children led a group to withdraw its annual award scheme.

Aireborough Civic Society annually awards cash prizes to three schools to honour the work of their outstanding pupils.

But an increase in vandalism and anti-social behaviour by youths in Aireborough led the society to take the drastic decision to stop the awards.

Aireborough Civic Society had been donating prizes of £25 to Benton Park School in Rawdon, Guiseley School and St Mary's RC Comprehensive in Menston for eight years, for them to give to a child.

An Otley headteacher warned that a child would be killed before road safety measures are introduced near her school.

Christine Russell condemned Leeds City Council for failing to respond to her letters, which highlighted the problems of no protective rails between the pavement and road at Bridge Street, no warning signs of a school in the town centre and no crossing patrol warden.

A spokesman for Leeds City Council said that the council had had problems recruiting crossing patrol staff across the whole of Leeds for some time.

A dramatic last minute goal earned cash-strapped Guiseley Football Club a £20,000 lifeline - and a dream tie in the First Round proper of the FA Cup.

After beating Tamworth 3-2 in a replay, brave Guiseley now faced a headline-grabbing game at Second Division Luton Town.

The cup run offered a much-needed cash injection to the troubled club.

Young striker Ryan Senior's last minute winner banked Guiseley a cheque for £20,000 on top of the £26,000 the club had previously earned with wins over Maine Road, Hebburn, Guisborough and Altrincham.

November

Otley Town Mayor Gerard Francis issued a rallying call for residents to make December 6 a special day in the wake of a decision to cancel the Victorian Fayre because of the firefighters' dispute.

And the Wharfedale and Airedale Observer backed his plea, which was being put to an emergency meeting involving Coun Francis and the organising committee.

This year's fayre, which would have been the 17th and regularly attracts up to 30,000 visitors had to be called off due to a firefighters' strike planned for that day.

But Coun Francis said: "There is nothing to stop the shops and businesses dressing up. They could still get the organists and the children to sing under the Buttercross."

December

Campaigners fighting to stop lorries travelling unnecessarily through Otley town centre were optimistic that a ban was in sight. Leeds City Council said it was considering options after an in-depth survey of heavy traffic which had revealed around 60 per cent of heavy lorries were just using the town as a short cut.

Otley's Christmas lights were hailed a major turn off by residents and traders. Town councillors decided to change the lights this year and introduce individual trees instead of the usual lights strung across the roads and displays hanging from lamp posts. The council promised to listen to criticism and said it would work to improve the displays next year. The town also suffered because of the cancellation of Otley Victorian Fayre. A replacement, Spirit of Christmas Day went ahead and although thousands of people stayed away, it was hailed a success by those who took part.

A £100,000 project to revamp and extend Horsforth Museum got underway and a stern warning was issued to would-be thieves to avoid the town after the installation of closed circuit television cameras throughout the township. Horsforth had suffered in the past few months with an increasing amount of crime and it was hoped that the cameras would help to not only force criminals to go elsewhere but also to provide the police with much needed evidence.

In Yeadon, the bandstand was dubbed a 'chocolate teapot' and called the laughing stock of the brass band world. A former Yeadon man said the bandstand was so small that bands had to stand outside to perform.

A row broke out between walkers and a model boat club which owns Larkfield Dam at Rawdon. Walkers said they had been stopped from walking around the Dam, while the boat club said it had done everything to accommodate the walkers and were merely trying to stop cattle from walking across its land.

There was joy for the town of Otley as the traditional cutting of the turf ceremony took place at the new £15 million Wharfedale Hospital in the town - much to the delight of campaigners who had fought for decades to get the new hospital.