Community to get more influence over area’s planning decisions
RESIDENTS IN one of Yorkshire’s most sought-after towns are being asked for their views on car parking after a council-commissioned report recommended hiking prices at a site that is already the most profitable in the district.
Commuters who leave their cars in the centre of Ilkley all day are partly to blame for the congestion in the town, according to the report by consultants, Steer Davies Gleave.
It wants to restrict onstreet parking to use by short-stay shoppers, introduce residents’ permits and increase fees at the pay-and-display car park on South Hawksworth Street in the town centre.
Five years ago, the facility, which accommodates 227 cars and was the site of a railway turntable in the days when Ilkley Station connected the town to Skipton, was revealed to bring in £250,000 a year for Bradford Council, making it the area’s biggest such revenue generator.
The report says Ilkley’s most persistent parking problems are within 400m of the train station, though it adds that not all the problems are caused by commuters.
It states shoppers often struggle to find a space and that residents are sometimes obstructed in their own street. WORK HAS started on a ‘neighbourhood plan’ which would give people living in a North Yorkshire town more influence over local planning decisions.
The town of Masham is the latest area to be designated as a ‘neighbourhood area’ by Harrogate Borough Council, alongside Ripon, Knaresborough, Pannal
To ease this, the report suggests residents-only permit schemes be introduced on streets to the north of the station, including Nile, Victory, Nelson, Wellington and Golden Butts Roads, Wharfe View, Weston Road and Castle Road.
The town’s MP, John Grogan, has called parking the “number one issue” among residents. The council has now opened its report’s recommendations to discission, with a month-long online consultation and dropin sessions at the Clarke Foley Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
The authority’s transport spokesman, Coun Alex RossShaw, said: “We are acutely aware of the parking problems Ilkley residents are experiencing every day.
“The aim of the recommendations is to manage parking in the town more effectively and provide residential streets with permits to ensure people who live near the town centre can park on their own street.”
He added: “Nothing is set in stone and we will listen to and act on feedback from the drop-in sessions and consultation responses. This is an inclusive process and we welcome all interested parties to get involved.” and Spofforth. It means a neighbourhood plan, a document that sets out planning policies for a local area and is used to decide whether to approve planning applications, will be drawn up with the help of the community.
The document could influence where new homes go or employment sites are created, what new development looks like and what infrastructure may be required to support it.
In Masham, the work to develop the neighbourhood plan is being led by the parish council which is calling for residents and businesses to be involved.
Its application for neighbourhood area designation was formally approved by Harrogate Borough Council in August. It covers the whole of the parish council’s area of responsibility.
Rebecca Burnett, the borough council’s cabinet member with responsibility for planning, said: “Neighbourhood plans are a great way for local communities to have more of a say in how future development affects them. While a neighbourhood plan can’t block development, or be used to refuse planning permission, it can set stricter guidelines for new homes or extra employment sites.
“For that reason, I encourage people in Masham to support the work being led by the parish council.”
According to the Government, more than 2,400 communities across England have already started neighbourhood planning.
Anyone interested in having their area given a neighbourhood area designation can gather community interest and start their own, with formal advice and support available.