OTLEY Town Council's leader is warning that moving back to the Civic Centre could prove financially punishing.

Re-establishing the Grade II Listed building as the town's civic base, and reopening its large hall, are two of the cornerstones of the Give Otley Its Town Hall! campaign.

Town Council Chairman Councillor Ray Georgeson (Lib Dem, Danefield), however, says the council's ability to move are 'severely restricted' due to the nature of its current lease.

That agreement for its Otley Core premises, on Orchard Gate, commits it to making payments until March, 2023.

Cllr Georgeson said: "The town council continues to express the desire to see the Civic Centre brought back into use and for residents of Otley to have the chance to have a say*, whenever Leeds City Council have concluded their process of examining Expressions of Interest and made clear their intentions.

“We are presently locked into contractual arrangements, entered into by the previous, Labour administration that only end on March 31, 2023.

"This is a ten year lease on the premises on Orchard Gate that will have cost the town council more than a quarter of a million pounds in rent and fit-out costs alone.

"There is no break clause in the lease and the landlord has recently confirmed that they will not negotiate any reduction in the lease period.

"The council is therefore severely restricted in its ability to relocate ahead of the end of this lease without incurring even more cost to the public purse."

"The town council elected for the period 2019-2023 will need to review the council’s premises requirements in the run up to the end of the present Orchard Gate lease, probably from the end of 2021 onwards."

*The town council's controlling Liberal Democrat group promised in its manifesto for the 2015 elections that it would hold an 'all town survey' to gauge people's views on the Civic Centre's future.