SIR – The idea of appointing a town centre manager for Ilkley is inspiring.

The job of town centre manager has been around in the UK for many years since the first manager was appointed, I think, in Reading in the late 1980s. The manager provides the interface between the community, business and the local authority.

I could easily give the appointee a list of activities to keep them occupied for their first year. Others will have another list.

Mine would include getting highways to sort out all the broken paving slabs on the Grove, develop a shop fronts policy from the planners to ensure some level of consistency appropriate for a conservation area, ensure all takeaway businesses provide litter bins outside their premises – I could go on.

Those towns in which a town centre management has been successful are those where the whole community is behind the project. Let’s support the idea!

I wonder if we could have a new approach to local governance and a new breed of councillors.

Howard Green, Kings Road, Ilkley