A 'REFERENDUM' to decide the future of Otley Civic Centre could be held as early as this September.

The Town Council's controlling Liberal Democrat group is planning to conduct a definitive survey to establish what most people would like to see happen to the building.

The idea was promoted by Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland and some local Lib Dem candidates before the May elections, but slammed by Labour as a publicity stunt.

Labour, previously in control at Otley, had also warned that an official referendum could end up costing the council more than £15,000.

New town council leader Councillor Ray Georgeson (Lib Dem, Danefield), however, insists that a binding 'all town' survey will be held - and shouldn't involve any extra cost.

He said: "The fact is that when the previous council signed the lease on the Core - the council's town centre base - they were basically signing a ten year death sentence for the Civic Centre.

"Yes, the Core's a good facility, but it's an expensive one that diminishes the opportunities for where we should be, which is within the town's own civic building.

"We are committed to holding a once and for all town survey and to publish the results for all to see to settle this, because we can't be debating it ad nauseum.

"And what the people say, we will respect."

The council hopes to be able to bundle the survey in with its annual Voice Your Choice ballot, which asks people which community projects should be supported, in September.

It will include a summary of facts about the history and present state of the Civic Centre, which it aims to secure cross-party agreement on.

Cllr Georgeson said: "We will do this without putting a burden on the taxpayer, by finding a clever way of combining it with the Voice Your Choice ballot.

"It also needs to have a non-biased presentation of the facts that is pre-agreed by both us and the previous Labour administration."

A Grade II Listed building that used to be a base for the town council and many community groups, Otley Civic Centre is owned by Leeds City Council and has been closed since 2010.

A multi-million refurbishment and modernisation scheme, to be part-funded by Leeds, has been touted for years without any progress.

The local Labour party - which lead a feasibility study into the matter - is convinced the property's best chance of a sustainable future is to be taken over privately and run as an entertainment hub.

The Liberal Democrats, on the other hand, believe the best solution would include an arrangement, supported by Leeds, where the town council moved back in.

Labour opened the Otley Core Resource Centre, on Orchard Gate, in 2013. Before that, the council had been working from smaller premises in Bay Horse Court that were not wheelchair accessible.