Elderly couple intend to push on and create Hawes care home

Graham and Mary Watts, 90 and 77, currently live in Askrigg but have always wanted to move back to Hawes, where they lived from 1970 to 1999.

The pair own land on Turfy Top near Lancaster Terrace, Hawes, and have put together plans for forty units, including two for disabled residents and eight units for residents with dementia who need constant attendance.

However, at a recent Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council meeting, councillors expressed concerns that the hill leading to the facility was too steep and would limit access as well as creating an unsafe access.

An alternative site was suggested on the Upper Wensleydale Business Park.

But Mr and Mrs Watts said concerns about the hill could  be overcome – and added everyone they spoke to supported their proposal.

He said: “It is on a hill but there is the Little White Bus that could cater for people that could not walk it – we have spoken to the organisation and were told it would not be a problem for the bus to come along every day to take people to and from the town.

“I am 90 and would happily walk down the hill, and probably get the bus back up.

“We don’t see this as a massive hurdle that has to be overcome – we are still very much preparing to put in a planning application, although we don’t yet know when.”

Chairman of Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council John Blackie said although the council agreed the town needed an extra care facility, it did not believe this was the right location.

“The site at Turfy Top is not the most suitable for extra care housing - there is a long drag down to the main road which brings you right on top of traffic coming in the opposite direction.

“The site just beyond the business park is close to the doctor’s surgery and the town centre, and is relatively flat.”

He added: “It is in the premature stages at the moment but in time the National Park Authority will call for sites to be put forward for consideration.”