MANY have predicted the end of the world as we approach the year 2000, but one thing seems certain, that it will be a year of dramatic implications for Wharfedale.
This week we publish details of a draft version of the Inspector's report on the Unitary Development Plan Public Inquiry, the planning blueprint for the future of the district that will shape the face of our communities.
Whether disappointed or delighted with what comes of the final version of the report, it seems a matter of little doubt that what may follow will have a strong impact on Wharfedale.
The prospects of additional housing at Pool-in-Wharfedale and Otley, along with the possibility of a relief road could mean a substantial growth in population in Wharfedale as a whole.
As yet, nothing is cast in stone, but it would seem that the need for housing generated by Leeds is fostering a commuter-belt that is searching for a home.
A thriving community is an ideal aim, with a growth in trade and additional wealth brought to a town like Otley.
Undoubtedly, there are always people, with or without good reason, who will oppose any kind of change that looms on the horizon.
But sadly, we begin the New Year of 1999 with as yet no firm assurance that Otley will be the site of a new Wharfedale Hospital.
The prospect of the town substantially growing in size without this assurance of a major employer being retained in the town could fuel the fears that our communities are becoming 'dormitory towns'.
Let us begin 1999 then with the hope and aim of seeing it the year that good news emerges to assure us of the vitality and prosperity of our communities into the next Millennium.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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