Hospital campaign

A new hospital facility in Otley could breathe new life into the community, not just in the sense of preserving the jobs it provides for local people, but also in the very real sense that if it is to deal with patient referrals from the outlying areas, the town's trade could reap great benefits.

For too long, Otley has seen a decline in its infrastructure, with the closure of facilities such as the town's courthouse and the Beech Hill Cinema.

The loss of the hospital would be a crushing blow that could spell disaster for the town's economy.

It is a credit to institutions such as Otley Town Council, the Otley Town Partnership, the Otley Chamber of Trade, and simply the ordinary people of the town, that the fight has never ceased in its efforts to safeguard the future of the hospital.

A new hospital facility that serves areas of the new Primary Care Group, of which Otley is part, could see the town put back on the map with enhanced health care facilities for the next millennium.

Town councillors have commented that while some have argued in favour of the High Royds site at Menston for a new hospital, there has been no apparent private backer of such a scheme, whereas the proposed Otley scheme has the support of Garnett's Mills.

In a town that is only minutes away from the booming economy of Leeds, which seems to be enjoying economic renewal and investment, it would only seem right to those who want to see a further injection of vitality into the town that Otley gets a piece of the action.

If anyone in favour of keeping the Wharfedale Hospital in Otley has not yet added his or her name to the Otley Town Council's petition, then now is the time for them to step forward and give their signature.

It may be a chance not just to preserve what the town has, but to enhance it for every resident's benefit.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.