But Council leader hits back, saying Conservatives are being 'divisive'

The Conservative group at Bradford Council say the proposed closure of all public toilets in the district, except those in Bradford city centre, and the planned scrapping of funding for community halls in Denholme, Harden, Oakworth, Baildon, Menston, Burley-in-Wharfedale and Silsden, are the latest in a series of cut-backs which have hit the more rural areas hardest.

The group has tabled a motion, to be discussed at Full Council tomorrow, calling for a fairer approach.

Councillor Russell Brown (Con, Worth Valley), who put forward the motion, said the planned closure of Queensbury Pool and Bradford Council’s Stockbridge Depot in Keighley were two more examples of the issue.

He said: "We know why they're doing it. They're teaching us a lesson, aren't they?"

Cllr Brown said while he wasn’t one of those calling for the Bradford district to be divided in two, he was struggling to argue against those who were.

He said: “People are getting fed up, really, really fed up that services seem to be getting removed from the outer districts and all their rates are getting kept in Bradford. People are fed up, and it’s hard to make an argument against that.”

Councillor Debbie Davies (Con, Baildon) said in her ward alone, the Ian Clough Hall and the public toilets were under threat, the library staffing was being cut by half and the cost of parking was going up.

She said it felt like areas with a town or parish council were an “easy target” for cuts, as the local groups could take on the running of facilities under threat.

But she said this often left residents paying far more through their parish council precepts.

But the Labour administration at Bradford Council hit back, accusing the Tories of being divisive and failing to grasp the enormity of the challenge the authority was facing.

Council leader Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe said: “I’m saddened that the Conservatives take such a divisive stance on this issue, trying to set people in the district against each other.

“After the Casey Review they seem to have learned nothing. It is absolutely untrue that we target any area of the district more than another.

“We want all the towns in the district to be successful. Just this week we approved the expansions of Ilkley Grammar School and Immanuel College, putting the investment where it’s needed, and we made progress on a host of other key issues affecting different parts of the district which is what we are doing all the time.

“The Tories are living in a dream of denial.

“Denial that their Government is cutting services that their voters enjoy and denial that they have a role to play in making sure our district gets a better deal.

“It’s a message they have been peddling for six years now, it’s time to face facts and change their stance.”