A garage close to the heart of Ilkley could soon make way for a £1,500,000 sheltered housing complex.

Plans have been submitted to Bradford Council for permission to demolish Station Garage in Springs Lane and replace it with the four-storey complex. If the plan is approved, the building could be completed by autumn next year.

It has been submitted by a specialist developer based in Altrincham, near Manchester.

Tim Webster, boss of the Rhydding Motor Company which owns the Rover dealership garage, said that the development, including landscaped gardens, would improve the Springs Lane area.

"It will take a lot of traffic away from that road and make the whole area look that much nicer," said Mr Webster.

He said he was planning to relocate his company to another site in Ilkley but negotiations were dependent on planning permission being granted as well as other factors.

Selwyn Cooper, the regional land director for McCarthy and Stone (Developers) Limited, said that work on the project would begin immediately if planning permission was granted.

Mr Cooper said the complex would contain 27 one-bedroomed and 23 two-bedroomed flats as well as accommodation for a house manager. People over 60 would be able to buy them.

He said that company research showed there was a need for more tailor-made accommodation for the over 60s in Ilkley.

Ilkley district and parish councillor Anne Hawkesworth agreed, but she said she hoped that the garage business would stay in the town.

"There is a need for some sort of housing which is lower cost in the centre of Ilkley," said Councillor Hawkesworth.

She said the proximity of Ilkley's Coronation Hospital, health centre, a large supermarket, library and Town Hall, could make the flats an attractive proposition for retired people. And she added: "They could be quite an asset."

Coun Hawkesworth said there were already concerns about traffic and access in the area and hoped that it would be improved if the new development went ahead.

A bid by the Ilkley and District Road Safety Committee to persuade the nearby Tesco supermarket to reduce the size of its entrance from Springs Lane, to make it safer for pedestrians, was not successful.

A new sheltered housing complex would mean more older people having to cross the junction to make their way into town.

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