The Councillors at Ross Town Council gave their unanimous support to the Friends of Ross Community Hospital at their meeting on Monday, July 10th, when Mrs Mary Osborne, a member of the organisation spoke about the effects the introduction of parking charges may have.

She told the Councillors that over the years the Friends have raised considerable sums of money. Over the last six years £234,000 has been raised and about £39,000 has been provided to the Hospital each year.

She said that this funding has helped provide services for patients, such as daily newspapers, but also paid for new and replacement equipment, for the X-ray department, new beds and much more. She said these are all items the hospital needs and this relieves the pressure on Hereford. She said the Wye Valley Trust appear to have overlooked this.

She appealed to the Councillors to object to the introduction of charges, or to ask for a compromise on days when the Friends have events. She said the Friends organise many functions during the year, from coffee mornings to the annual summer fete and this year, a special Strawberry Tea to celebrate 20 years since the hospital opened.

She said people often stay for a lot longer than one hour at these events, and they are very generous. However, there is concern that if people have to pay for parking they may be detered from attending and this will have a serious impact on their fundraising.

Cllr Bartrum said he fully supports the residents and Friends and is opposed to the charges. He said that the CEO of the Wye Valley Trust had been invited to attend the meeting and said ‘if Muhammed won’t come to the mountain then we should go to him’, and flood the next meeting of the Wye Valley Trust. He suggested that the Town Council set up a petition to let the Trust know the strength of feeling in Ross.

Cllr Cutter said he had a deep emotional attachment to the Hospital and he thought it quite disgraceful that the CEO had not attended the meeting. He said: “This is an invisible unelected group telling us what we can and cannot do, to make a few pounds. This is causing misery and emotional distress.” He also questioned whether the land belongs to the Trust as it was bought and paid for by the people of Ross.

Cllr Bennett said that the Town Council should have been consulted and she would have liked more information, such as who is collecting the money and how much will this cost.

Cllr J Utting said he was not surprised but remained totally opposed to the charges which he called a ‘tax on healthcare workers.’ Cllr Hyde said that the Town Council should question the legality as the land belongs to Ross.

Councillor Roberts suggested that the town Council write to the surrounding parishes as charges will probably have more impact on people coming to the hospital who need to travel by car. It was agreed that the Council will write to the Wye Valley Trust inviting the CEO to attend a meeting as soon as possible, a petition will be started, letters written to parish councils and plans made for as many Councillors as possible to attend the next meeting of the Trust to express their feelings.