THE referendum into Craven District Council plans to develop Skipton has resulted in a resounding "no" to the council's overall package.

The Electoral Reform Society poll was funded by Skipton Civic Society.

The ERS sent out 10,161 forms and 5,988 were returned. Of these 4,278 said no to the scheme (71.6 per cent) while 1,696 said yes (28.4 per cent).

The number of returned forms, 58.9 per cent of those sent out, was unusually high and ranks alongside the turnout for a general election.

The poll was sent to every household in Skipton and asked whether or not they were in favour of the package of plans put forward by the council or not.

The civic society is believed to have paid £10,000 for the poll.

Its secretary, Gwynne Walters, said the society had decided to act because the plans were a package and the town could not "cherry pick" bits it liked and the public had not been given a chance to give a straight yes or no to the overall scheme.

John Moody, chairman of the civic society, said the turnout was magnificent, but he did not feel the result was necessarily the death blow to the council's plans.

"The people of Skipton are going to have to make it clear to Craven District Council that they must reconsider their proposals and come up with something more acceptable," said Mr Moody.

He added: "I think one has the feeling that they are anxious to do something grandiose, but clearly it is something beyond the wishes of the residents of Skipton."

He felt the town had expressed its wishes emphatically, but the council might argue that the poll was not valid.

"We will have to wait and see, but the poll was entirely independent," he said.

"The wording on the paper had been shown to the council beforehand so they could take issue with any of the statements and we could not be accused of misleading.

"I think they should take into account what the poll says but whether they do or not remains to be seen."

Mr Moody declined to say whether the civic society found any parts of the council's proposals acceptable.

Nor would he be drawn upon his own feelings about the future development of the town.

Carl Lis, the leader of Craven District Council, said the council was aware of the civic society poll and would consider the results alongside its own more detailed findings.

"Every consultation has its strengths and weaknesses and these have to be taken into account when considering the strengths," he added.

The council said its questionnaire had deliberately omitted asking for a view on the developments overall as the proposals were clearly not on an "all or nothing" basis.