IT is not difficult to become very cynical about the chances of getting a new Wharfedale Hospital - in Otley at least.

The latest piece of news surrounding the whole issue seems to make it even more unlikely that a new hospital will ever be built in the town.

Even though the preferred site has been named as land next to Garnett's Mill off the Pool Road, it now seems Garnett's has other ideas.

The paper specialists clearly ran out of patience with the health trust as it dragged its feet about putting in an application for a new hospital on its land and so the paper company put in a plan for housing instead.

And now - as the two applications sit side by side in the planning authority melting pot - Garnett's has said it is committed to housing on the site, even though its plan has been rejected on the grounds of possible flooding.

So, where does that leave the hospital plan? Clearly, only one of the schemes can go ahead and if the owners of the site are committed to housing and also believes the fears about flooding can be overcome, it doesn't look particularly rosy for a new hospital.

Meanwhile, yet another consultation about the hospital - only this time about the services to be on offer at the place not yet built - is under way.

And the good news is that even though women will not be able to have their babies at the hospital, they are to get a vastly improved service.

Ante-natal care at Wharfedale is pretty good at the moment with women only in the last stages of pregnancy having to go to Leeds. But in the future it should be even better with specialists on hand to deal with any complications.

However, that is all dependent on a new hospital actually being built. So, here we are, back to square one.

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