PEOPLE in Ilkley are being urged to have their say on the town’s future development with the launch of a public consultation this week.

The town council is running its consultation on the Ilkley Neighbourhood Development Plan from Thursday, November 7 until Thursday, December 19. It will also hold a public meeting and drop in sessions.

Ilkley’s Deputy Mayor and the plan’s project leader, Cllr Ros Brown said: “The INDP is a relatively new type of plan which is concerned with land use planning and development. It allows local people to help shape the future development of Ilkley and Ben Rhydding. It is vital the Neighbourhood Development Plan reflects the issues of greatest concern to residents for the development of our town.”

Following consultation the plan will be revised and then submitted to Bradford Council and an independent examiner before going to public referendum. It is hoped the process will be completed in the Spring. If successful at referendum the INDP will sit alongside Bradford Council’s statutory local plan. This means decisions on planning applications for Ilkley will be made using both the local plan and the neighbourhood development plan.

Cllr Brown said: “The Town Council are very grateful to former councillor Brian Mann and the committee of town councillors and experienced volunteers who initiated the plan and steered it to this point.”

Ilkley’s Mayor, Cllr Mark Stidworthy, also invited people to take part in the consultation on the Ilkley Sustainability Plan which runs for the same period and can be accessed in the same places as the neighbourhood plan.

“As there are strict limits on the scope of neighbourhood plans the Ilkley Neighbourhood Development Plan working group of IIkley Town Council saw the need for a wider vision for the town based on tackling the challenges of climate change and environmental degradation,” he said.

Whilst the ISP has areas of overlapping interest and influence it will not be taken into account in Bradford Council’s assessments of planning applications in Ilkley.

The plans and response forms can be accessed at https://towncouncil.ilkley.org/neighbourhood-plan/. Hard copies can be viewed at the town hall, the library, Clarke Foley Centre, Christchurch, Ben Rhydding Methodist Church and St John’s Church Ben Rhydding.

The public meeting takes place at The Clarke Foley Centre from 7pm to 8pm on Friday, November 29. Drop-in sessions will take place at the Town Hall between 10am and 12 noon on Thursday November 14, Monday November 18 and Wednesday December 4. Enquiries can be made to the town council’s clerk on 01943 436212 or at clerk@towncouncil.ilkley.org.