FEARS that Ilkley Moor could be put up for sale by Bradford Council have been dismissed by asset management bosses.

To pay for much needed refurbishment and repairs to public buildings, cash-strapped City Hall has come up with a plan to sell off surplus land and buildings to private companies. The asset management scheme also includes handing over the running of heritage buildings and leisure centres to private companies.

Members of the environment overview and scrutiny committee feared that moorland owned by Bradford Council could by sold off, too. The council owns Ilkley Moor, Baildon Moor and Haworth Moor.

Members of the scrutiny committee were demanding assurances that environmental protection regulations would remain in place if the land was transferred to private ownership.

The head of the asset management team is Councillor Simon Cooke (Con, Bingley Rural), who is deputy council leader and corporate portfolio holder.

He told the Gazette that Ilkley Moor was not on the list of the council's assets for sale and that the only likely transfer of the land would be to a local private trust, as suggested by Ilkley district councillor Anne Hawkesworth.

After the meeting Coun Cooke said: "We are not selling off the moors. I think it is unlikely the council would sell off any substantial asset in the green belt."

Because all the regulations governing the use of the moor will stay in place whatever happens to the land, it is unlikely private companies would want it anyway. No development could take place and there are a plethora of responsibilities to go with ownership.

Coun Cooke said: "I am sure if we wanted to sell Ilkley Moor we would get a buyer, but we would not get much money for it.

"Ilkley Moor is one of the principal attractions in the Bradford district and one of the things that makes Ilkley special. The council would not be minded to do anything that would compromise that situation."

The council's responsibilities on moorland it owns revolve around public access, protection of the landscape and the rights of landowners and tenants.

Bradford Council's countryside service maintains the moor as a grouse moor but does not allow shooting to take place.

The scrutiny committee considered a report saying that moorland in the district was protected because of its rarity or scientific interest.

Council officers say this protection includes Sites of Special Scientific Interest, a designation which would stay in place whoever owned the land itself.

Bradford Council has been carrying out studies to examine how a trust or local management body could take over the moor, allowing more cash for maintenance and improvement to be pumped into the area.

Coun Hawkesworth said: "It is completely feasible for the moor to be in trust. The expectation would be that moor management would still be given by Bradford Council, but there would be management from what I call the conservators of Ilkley Moor. It is practical."

A trust or other local management body would also be able to access money - such as European Union funding, or National Lottery grants - not available to local authorities.