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16
Mar
Forum discussion puts health and wellbeing at heart of Harrogate's development
‘Health and wellbeing’ was the topic up for discussion at the latest meeting of the Harrogate Town Plan Forum this week.
The forum is a group of volunteers who have come together to create a comprehensive plan for Harrogate’s development that could potentially be adopted by the new Harrogate Town Council when its first councillors are elected in May.
Over the last few months, around 30 people have met regularly at the United Reformed Church on West Park to discuss various aspects of the plan.
Introducing the session, forum chair Stuart Holland spoke of the inter-relatedness of the various discussions the forum has had so far. As an example, he cited the case of almshouses, which he said had been shown to boost residents’ average life expectancy by five years.
He said:
There’s such a crossover between this and all the other subjects we’ve covered and are going to cover.
Almshouses promote wellbeing and security, and I think that really demonstrates the connection between health and housing.
Rogers' almshouses on Belford Road in Harrogate.
Mr Holland’s introduction was followed by a presentation by Jan Arger, who is chair and trustee of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England in North and East Yorkshire.
After stressing that she was not an expert on the subject, she outlined what she felt were the main considerations to be taken into account when devising a health and wellbeing chapter of a town plan.
She said:
I’m not trying to give you my ideas – you'll have ideas of your own. This is about the community and how it would like to influence what might work over the next 10 or more years.
She went on to explain that ‘health and wellbeing’ was the very concept that drove the early growth of Harrogate, and suggested that it could be used once again as a “hook” to attract people to the town. She said:
We have this amazing heritage here of health and wellbeing, and it would be really nice to build that into the town’s future development.
In addition to its health infrastructure – the public and private hospitals, doctors’ surgeries and dental clinics – Harrogate has so many practitioners of yoga, pilates and all kinds of alternative therapies. They could rent space in the Royal Baths – it's mostly vacant, so it could be turned into a community wellbeing hub.
People go to Turkey to get their teeth fixed – wouldn't it be good if people came to Harrogate to boost their health and wellbeing?
To let signs at the Royal Baths complex.
Other possibilities she raised included encouraging more ‘green prescribing’ with related investment in allotments, cycle routes, 'forest bathing', and green gyms, and protecting much-cherished green spaces – such as Crescent Gardens and Harrogate Bowling Club – by registering them as assets of community value.
As attendees broke up into groups to discuss the topic, Ms Arger asked them to focus on three questions: what we do well, what we want to protect, and what is missing from the town.
The group discussion again highlighted the connections between different aspects of the proposed town plan, specifically housing, and some of the tensions involved.
It was noted that much of the town’s care-home workforce is currently bussed in from other places, such as Leeds, which one forum member said was “not good either for the environment or for our community”, and necessitated building more affordable housing to accommodate them.
But another attendee said that, while Harrogate is well-served with sports facilities, it will need many more as housebuilding sees the town grow from 76,000 inhabitants to more than 80,000 over the next few years.
The next meeting of the Harrogate Town Plan Forum will discuss Climate Change, Mitigation and Adaptation, and will be held in the same place on Thursday, April 3. All are welcome.
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