SHIPLEY is one step closer to getting a Town Council after residents voices support for the idea.

However, just 8.2 per cent of the town took part in the survey held to gauge public opinion on the proposed new Parish Council.

For several years a group of Shipley residents have been campaigning for Shipley to get its own council - in the same way neighbouring towns of Baildon and Bingley have their own councils.

A petition gathered enough signatures for the idea to progress, and earlier this Autumn Bradford Council sent letters out to Shipley households to ask if they supported a Shipley Town Council.

At a meeting of the Council’s Governance and Audit Committee next Thursday, members will hear the results of that survey, and decide the next steps.

And officers have recommended they support the idea of a Town Council, and pass the decision on to the next meeting of Bradford Council in January.

Shipley residents to be asked if they want a town council

If it is approved by the Full Council, people of Shipley will be casting their votes in May - when the next Bradford Council elections are held.

The area that will be covered by the Council contains 10,429 local government electors, and a report to the committee reveals that 860 people responded to the consultation - 8.24 per cent.

Of these 442 responded to the paper survey, 404 to a web survey and 14 replied via email.

People had until November 1 to have their say, and after the results were studied 77 per cent were found to be in favour of a Shipley Town Council and 23 per cent were opposed to it.

Reasons given by supporters include, “the community would be brought together,” “the town and surrounding area would have a stronger voice” and “perception of a lack of focus on Shipley by Bradford Council.”

Other supporting comments said a Town Council would allow for better management of green spaces and that decision making would be made at a more local level.

Examples of services that people believed would improve under a town council were public toilets, traffic management, flood defence, youth activities and community centres.

The Town Council would be paid for through a precept on existing Council Tax - an extra charge that would be used to fund the new Council and their projects.

In neighbouring Baildon some of the Town Council budget went towards towards re-opening public toilets. In Baildon it led to the town’s markets being re-instated.

This precept was the sticking point for many of those who opposed the idea of a Shipley Town Council.

One said: “A Local Council is not needed and would not be a good use of money and a waste of time” and “the potential for increases in the precept in future years.”

Some claimed poorer Shipley residents “might not be able to pay the additional tax, such as young working families and retired people.”

A report to the Governance and Audit Committee says: “It is recommended that Members give their support to the establishment of a new Local Council in the Shipley area.

“Final approval for the establishment of a new Local Council in the Shipley area should be referred to council on January 14 2020.”

The committee meets in City Hall at 10am on Thursday.