ONE of Otley's key town centre features could be in for a major facelift.

Otley Town Council has set aside money in its next budget to revamp land on Nelson Street to make the area more attractive.

And it hopes other organisations will chip in to make the scheme a reality before the millennium.

The proposed design for the triangle of land outside the Midland Bank was unveiled this week at a meeting of the council's environmental committee to unanimous approval.

The council commissioned Otley-based landscape designer Linda Lukats to help solve problems with the land which it felt was not living up to its potential.

Committee chairman Jennifer Clifton said: "The trees and the grass are suffering and something has to be done. This plan is very much needed."

Ms Lukats' vision is based loosely around the image of a London square. She said: "But I see this as an Otley triangle.

"It is a dead space, nobody uses it. It's one of the things everybody walks past, everybody sees it and I just felt there was a lot that could be done.

"One of the problems with it is that everybody walks across the grass, so we might as well put a path across it.

"We don't want to make it too exclusive but we do need to stop people walking where we don't want them to go."

Concrete paving would cover the entire area with extensive planting of shrubs and trees to provide colour all year round. Ms Lukats said she felt that was a key element to her plan.

"There is no colour at all during the winter. I would hope to bring colour to the area with all-year round plants and shrubs to really brighten it up," she said.

Her design includes:

l Three benches with stone surrounds in the paved central area.

l A formal bed in front of the bank with a boxed edge of lavender trees and red cordyline.

l A raised stone bed at the centre of the seated area.

l Black cast iron bollards with a chain link to replace broken and missing railings.

l Substantial pruning to maximise the potential of existing cherry trees bordering the land and mixed planting for colour.

Ms Lukats said the use of shrubs and perennial bulbs would mean a fairly low maintenance programme for the land compared with grass cutting.

The scheme was warmly welcomed by the committee.

Councillor Phil Coyne said: "I think it is worth spending as much as we possibly can to make a good impression as soon as people come into town.

"I think the people of Otley deserve the best conditions and this is a wonderful design."

Coun Clifton (Lab, West Chevin) said the scheme was now dependent on a number of factors combining to make it successful. "We hope for contributions from outside agencies we have approached some of whom have already expressed a tentative interest.

"We may find we have to do it in two stages but this is just the basis and the finer points will be discussed at a future date when we know more about the funding."

l Any business or organisation which wants to offer financial support should contact the town clerk, Les Cross, on (01943) 466335.

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