Burley Community Council is celebrating 25 years' of serving the local community - a year after the event.

Set up in 1976 as a way of giving a collective voice back to the village, the group actually reached its quarter century in 2001.

But in keeping with its no-nonsense tradition, the Council (BCC) noted the landmark by only holding a private party for the retiring chairman and founding member, Dennis Warwick.

Mr Warwick, however, working with fellow founding member John Gundry, have now decided to produce a written account of the group's history.

Current chairman Bruce Speed said: "Nothing was done at the time we hit the landmark, which was a shame, because while we didn't really want to make a big show of things we have achieved a lot.

"So it is fitting to have a retrospective record drawn up. In the old days, after we were absorbed by Ilkley and then Ilkley itself became part of Bradford, nobody was listening to our concerns.

"But now we do make ourselves heard and, thanks to building a very good working relationship with the Shipley Area Panel, we are able to get funding for local projects.

"We've created a good voice for the area and kept alive the strong voluntary tradition of the village - and a lot of that is down to people who were there at the beginning, like Dennis and John."

Currently looking into the logistics of breaking away from Ilkley to form Burley's own parish council, BCC has won an impressive series of fights for the village.

These include restoring the central water fountain, which was given to Burley by Frances Arnold-Forster in 1885, and saving The Roundhouse from demolition.

The gazebo, a listed building which sits on The Grange, has been fully renovated and is now a popular tea room and meeting venue.

Mr Gundry was one of around 50 residents who turned up to a public meeting back in June, 1976, from which BCC was born.

He said: "We actually forgot all about our 25th anniversary at the time, but then we do try to look to the future rather than the past.

"I'm one of the oldest members so I do still have some memories of the first days, and we thought it would be better to get them down in writing before they are forgotten!"

His personal choice for the group's finest achievement to date is the creation of the Village Green from a disused piece of land at the centre of Burley.

He said: "Bradford had originally wanted the land for housing, but we wrote back and told them 'you can't do this, this is the heart of the village'.

"Eventually they agreed, and around seven years ago we rolled our sleeves up and did a lot of digging and planting.

"We did a £50,000 job for around £20,000, earned various awards and now have a very well-used Green full of trees and benches."

The group prides itself on having a constitution which is non-party political and gives free membership to any villager.

More than 100 residents regularly attend its public meetings, where key issues are openly debated.