THE newly-appointed chairman of Ilkley Business Forum has called for a sensible parking scheme for Ilkley to make the town more accessible to shoppers and workers.

Steve Butler also said the business forum would work to promote Bradford Council’s policy of offering free parking in the run up to Christmas.

Of the free parking, he said: “As Christmas approaches Bradford MDC very kindly offers free parking to some of its citizens for some of the time. In Ilkley this will be as follows in South Hawksworth Street Car Park: parking will be free of charge from noon on Tuesday 2, Wednesday 3, Tuesday 9, Wednesday 10, Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 December. Going on past experience, Bradford Met will place tiny notices on the parking ticket machines, which will still take your money and issue tickets to you if you miss the notices.

“As a practical measure, Ilkley Business Forum are making four bags with which to cover the parking meters while the parking is free. They will be placed on the machines at noon and removed at the end of the day. At least in That way, shoppers will be made aware of the concession.”

Mr Butler said a debate was needed to solve ongoing parking problems in Ilkley.

“Last week I was talking to someone who works long hours in central Ilkley and is frightened to park at the bottom end of Middleton Avenue in the dark,” he said. “She has to park down there in the mornings because there is nowhere closer which she can afford. When she later moves her car to the safety of the central car park she often finds it difficult to park there, even after 4pm. A couple of weeks ago a car was written off on Grove Road because a taxi could not easily negotiate the chicane caused by the obstructive parking on both sides of the road.

“On the other hand there was a letter in the Gazette last week from someone claiming that parking in Ilkley is easy. A proper debate is clearly needed and meanwhile Bradford Met seems determined to use Ilkley’s car park and streets as a major source of income and has no interest in making things better.

“The Parish Council has come up with the idea of launching a petition to force Bradford to review the situation, in the same way that they were forced to review the problems we have with schools.

"A petition will not cost anything and if the Parish Council doesn’t do it then IBF may try to do so.”