NHS Trust thank family for use of carpark during hospital upgrade work

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) has thanked Otley family, the Houldsworths, for allowing them to use the old Bridge End livestock market whilst the carpark at Wharfedale Hospital has been undergoing work - something that saved the NHS Trust the need for pay for a higher priced alternative.

The Otley Bridge End site was purchased in 2014 by the Houldsworth family, who own and run Basil Houldsworth & Sons, to secure the future of the site for the community, after failed attempts by a developer to build houses, something strongly opposed by the local community and councillors.

The Trust has installed a solar canopy over the existing car park at Wharfedale Hospital which will be used to generate greener energy. Following completion of the works, the car park is now fully open to patients and staff and as a result the use of the Bridge End Site is no longer required.

Mathew Houldsworth and Amanda Gomersall, Associate Director of Estates & Facilities Commercial Services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust at Wharfedale Hospital (Image: submitted)

The old Bridge End Auction Mart was one of the most important livestock markets in the north of England, bringing farmers in from for a wide. It operated with two markets a week until its sudden closure in 2002.

The old auction mart site is a brownfield site, which was occupied by buildings at the heart of the community’s economic life until 2002, but was previously derelict. In 2017, the Houldsworths cleared 800 tonnes of concrete to tidy up the site.

As well as being an eyesore, the concrete base of the old auction market was restricting access and making it dangerous for visitors to Otley Show and Otley Carnival with both organisations welcoming the work done with the site being so important to both events. As well as being used for the annual Otley Show and Otley Carnival, the work clearing the site means that it can be used for temporary parking, using permitted development rights, for the NHS/Wharfedale Hospital and for production crews filming in the area.

In 2020, the Houldsworths made a donation to Sue Ryder Wheatfields Hospice of the £1000 received from the production company that used the plot whilst filming locally for the fourth series of Kay Mellor’s The Syndicate.

Mathew Houldsworth said: “We’re delighted to support Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust and allow them to use the Bridge End site for car parking whilst work has been going on at Wharfedale Hospital, saving the NHS money and also enabling the Trust to carry out much needed improvement works to the benefit of the whole area.

“The Bridge End site is an important site, which is why we purchased it for the community when it had been threatened with housing development and then cleared the site to give safe access for Otley Show and Otley Carnival and to benefit the community as a whole”.

Amanda Gomersall, Associate Director of Estates & Facilities Commercial Services at LTHT said: “We want to express our gratitude to the Houldsworths for allowing us to use their land during the installation of our new photovoltaic solar car park canopy at Wharfedale Hospital. The incorporation of these solar panels will offer the Trust a renewable energy solution and contribute to reducing harmful carbon emissions.”