BINGLEY residents have only two weeks left to seize an opportunity to create their own parish or town council.

A two-month consultation by Bradford Council ends on July 31 and aims to discover if the 16,000 people in Bingley, Cottingley, Crossflatts, Eldwick, Gilstead, and Micklethwaite want their own local level of democratic government

Campaigners, the Bingley Community Council Group, sparked the move by presenting a 2,000 signature petition in favour of the idea to City Hall.

Letters explaining the Community Governance Review were sent to all residents and responses can be made in writing or by email.

And while BCCG and others are urging residents to support the move, honorary president of Bingley Chamber of Trade, Howard Martin said there were murmurs of opposition to the idea.

"A few of the comments I've heard suggest there is a feeling that the area to be covered by any new council is too wide for it to be effective," Mr Martin said.

"For example, Cottingley and Crossflatts have very different issues to Bingley.

"And if local precept money gathered by the new council is being spent in Cottingley, people might say the village was being subsidised by money from Bingley.

"That's a bit like the original complaint about Bradford Council raising money from the Aire Valley and it not being spent in Bingley."

Ros Dawson, chairman of BCCG, said everyone was entitled to their views and it was vital all opinions were heard by Bradford Council.

"The great thing about this consultation is that it's there for everybody," Mrs Dawson said.

She said people had earned the right to take part and that the BCCG Facebook page was full of positive comments about the idea.

"This is is a unique opportunity and we would urge everybody to take part," she said.

"We believe our area needs a democratically representative body to ensure an identity and give us a voice - that's the feedback we've been getting.

"It's really important people take part - for one thing, then nobody can grumble afterwards.

"BCCG will have a stall at Bingley Show on Saturday, July 25, and will be encouraging everyone to share their views, if they haven't already done so."

Terry Brown, chairman of the Bingley Civic Trust, said it was very much in favour of a new town council.

"The benefits would far outweigh the cost of setting it up and we'd urge everyone to have their say, be they for or against the idea," Mr Brown said.