RESIDENTS living near the site of a proposed new factory claim they were missed out of the consultation process..

People living on Wharfedale Drive have objected to the plan by engineering firm Spooner Industries Limited to build a new factory next to its current leased site on Railway Road.

But residents told the Gazette that the street, which stands on the opposite side of the railway line to the site, should have been fully informed about the plans earlier and included in consultation, as residents of surrounding streets were.

They fear local councillors have already made their minds up to agree the plan, and are not taking into account the views of Wharfedale Drive people. The noise created by industrial processes, and the size of the proposed factory are two of their biggest worries - although fears of round-the-clock working seven days a week, also figure in their objections.

Another fear is the future of a purpose-built factory if Spooner's goes out of business. Wharfedale Drive residents have studied company accounts, showing company losses in 2004, and they claim a profit last year was due to selling the lease on the current factory site.

A lack of orders for the industrial dryers and ovens it produces led to the company shedding a third of its workforce in 1998. It has since increased its employee numbers and recently said it had a full order book.

Objectors believe all residents living nearby should look into the details of the plan before Ilkley Parish Council's plans committee makes a recommendation to Bradford Council. Although the parish council cannot make planning decisions, residents claim its backing will add significant weight when Bradford Council makes its decision.

Bradford Council's Ilkley Area Planning Office said there had been eight letters of representation to the plan. Among these was a letter of support from Ilkley Design Statement Group chairman Wilfred Shaw. Mr Shaw spoke out in favour of keeping the factory in town, keeping Ilkley 'a Dales town rather than becoming a dormitory suburb' where all residents travel outside to work.

Spooner's managing director, Michael Brook, said it was an oversight that Wharfedale Drive was missed out of the consultation, and the company had since apologised to residents and given them the same presentations which other residents saw during the earlier consultation.

And Mr Brook said modifications to the plan are currently being drawn up. Parish councillors asked Spooners to preserve more of the natural environment, improving the landscape and leaving trees next to the railway line. Mr Brook said this would be beneficial to Wharfedale Drive residents.

He said overnight working would only take place if the company needed to put in extra hours because it was behind schedule to meet an order. He also said noise levels would be low.

And although he said he believed the company's accounts were being interpreted incorrectly, he said the building was being designed with flexibility in mind - so it not be difficult to sell on if Spooner's did need to move out.

"If for any reason it wasn't our jobs that were in it, it would be a perfectly good building for other people. It's designed very much with flexibility in mind," said Mr Brook.