DISABLED people are unlikely to gain better access to Ilkley Town Hall in the near future, say councillors.

At Monday's Finance and General Purposes Committee meeting, Councillor Kathy Best asked if Ilkley Parish Council could put

forward money from the parish

precept to have a lift or stairlift fitted at the town hall.

But other councillors say there is no

great demand for the facilities at this

time, which would require major building work.

The hall currently has a ramp to enable people in wheelchairs to get into the building's ground floor, but the parish clerk's office, the council chamber and the Bradford Council planning department office are situated up a flight of stairs.

Coun Best said: "It's quite important in view of disabled access to public meetings. They have a lift at Keighley Town Hall."

She asked fellow councillors if any

possibility of better access had arisen

from a feasibility study carried out at the town hall.

"It might just be that if we have no facilities it puts people off attending," said Coun

Best.

However, other members said extensive building work would be needed to fit a lift - which would still not provide access to

the parish clerk's office on the landing,

and claimed people in wheelchairs could

have difficulty getting onto a stairlift

unassisted.

The issue was raised several months ago when an Ilkley Grammar School student attending a lecture at the town hall was unable to access the council chamber. Councillor Mike Gibbons re-arranged the

lecture on the building's ground floor.

He said: "It is, to my knowledge, the first time such a situation had cropped up in my 15 years here. It was very unfortunate, but I don't know whether we could have a legitimate claim that we need such a provision at this time."

Councillor Mike Lynes said very few members of the public attended parish council meetings, and all current councillors could use the stairs. Only one member of the public attended the open public questions section at the beginning of Monday's meeting.

"We know that all the people who are

members of the council are not disabled. There's no bar to people who are disabled standing for election, so we would have to account for that."

He suggested holding meetings at another venue if members of the public were expected to attend.

Councillors said the issue of updating the facilities could be further complicated by potential changes to the management of buildings, such as the town hall, which are currently owned and managed by Bradford Council.