ROAD access to the proposed new Silsden primary school site dominated the project’s first public consultation event, says a local councillor.

Cllr Adrian Naylor said most townspeople who attended the drop-in session agreed Silsden needed a new building to accommodate the soon-to-be-merged Aire View Infant and Hothfield Junior Schools.

But he revealed some residents living near the chosen site expressed concern about how parents’ vehicles would get to and from the school at peak times.

The council announced last autumn that it had bought fields above Silsden Park, between separate estates off Daisy Hill and Bolton Road, to build the long-awaited primary school.

At the consultation events, Bradford Council officers presented residents with four options for how the two likely access roads– one on each side of the site – might be developed. The routes connect with Silsden’s main road at different ends of the town.

A Bradford Council map, posted to the community website silsden.net, shows potential access routes from Hawber Cote Lane and Middleway/Airedale Mount.

Cllr Naylor, a member of both Bradford and Silsden councils, was pleased that Bradford had sought residents’ ideas and concerns before drawing up detailed plans for the school.

He said: “We have for years called for Bradford to start the process really early, so people have a chance to influence things before the council start designing.

“They said ‘this is what we’re looking at building in the school area’, but they alsowanted to talk about the ideas people had.

“The drop-in seemed to attract a lot of interest. The main focus for people were transport links to and from the school.”

Cllr Naylor said Bradford Council planned to provide enough space in the new building for three classes for each year group, with the potential expand to four classes in future.

It is understood that Bradford Council officers suggested a possible construction budget for the two-storey school of £8 million and a completion date of autumn 2019.