Ilkley risks being “left behind” in shaping local planning issues if work does not get underway soon on a Neighbourhood Plan, a councillor has warned.

Councillor Paul Kitching has urged fellow Ilkley parish councillors to study recommendations recently put forward Ilkley Future Group and make their responses known as soon as possible.

“Saying nothing is not an option,” he warned, ahead of an informal meeting of the council this month to discuss the next steps in the formation of a Neighbourhood Plan.

The Parish Council agreed in principle to adopt the recommendations of Ilkley Future Group in April.

The group of local experts in various fields, chaired by Councillor Brian Mann, came up with its own vision for the future of Ilkley.

The vision was put forward as potential parish council planning policy, and the possible basis of a Neighbourhood Plan - which could work alongside Bradford Council’s eventual Local Plan to set out the rules for building development in the area.

But Coun Kitching fears the community could be running out of time to formulate its plan, following the publication of a new Strategic Housing Land Allocation Assessment (SHLAA) recently.

Ward councillor, Anne Hawkesworth, gave the Parish Council a breakdown of statistics from the SHLAA, showing land had been identified for more than 5,000 potential housing units between Addingham and Menston - increase of 62 per cent on the previous SHLAA.

Visit ilkley.org/parishcouncil to read the Ilkley Future Group’s full recommendations to the Parish Council.