Dales couple to highlight difficulties of accessing rural care in the Dales because of landslide road closure

A Dales couple with a sick child have travelled to Parliament to highlight the difficulties faced by rural families in accessing health care.

Barney and Harvie Strange, from Dentdale, near Hawes, talked about the effects a landslip has had on the care of their paraplegic son to a panel of MPs. The meeting was hosted by palliative care charity HospiceUK. It was attended by MPs and political advisors campaigning for care services.

The couple also met Lizzie Collinge, Labour MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, to discuss the issue. The couple’s 19-month-old son Rafferty has a rare muscular disorder.

The landslip closed the only route out of one end of the remote valley last November and has caused problems for the delivery of his medical supplies and his hospital visits.

Rafferty’s condition means that lengthy detours by road increase the chances of him choking.

Ms Collinge is backing the community campaign to pressure Westmorland and Furness Council and its contractors WSP to speed up repairs to the C5101, a vital route linking the Cumbrian community with Hawes and Ingleton, North Yorkshire.

Other residents, including pensioners, face hour-long detours to visit GPs in Hawes and Sedbergh.

Barney, 40, said: “This is devastating for our family and for the wider community, especially our vulnerable people.”

The detour is also hitting hospitality businesses in the dale, including the community’s only pub and several holiday cottages.
Westmorland & Furness Council say a variety of issues have caused the seven-month delay in the project.

A council spokeswoman said: “We understand the frustration caused by the landslip at Denthead and apologise for the inconvenience that the safest and most suitable diversion is causing our communities.”