A councillor has issued a warning about the future of Ilkley’s town hall if services continue to disappear from the building.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth claims only “the parish clerk and ghosts” would remain if services continue to be diluted from the once bustling building.

She wants an Ilkley-based trust to take control of the civic buildings in the town, including the town hall, King’s Hall and Winter Garden, pool and lido.

She said: “Twenty years ago there were no spare rooms in the building.

“The registrar borrowed the parish room for a day a week and there was a fully functioning environmental health department and a fully functioning planning department.

“It’s very different to now. There will be little more here than the parish clerk and ghosts.”

Coun Hawkesworth told the parish council it needs to plan ahead, as the future of the town hall becomes clearer.

A trust could have more flexibility than a council, she believes, if the buildings were transferred to a local body possibly under an arms length management scheme.

Heathcliffe Bowen, chairman of the parish council, admitted setting up a trust to run civic buildings in Ilkley is something the whole community would need to contemplate if it became necessary.

Coun David Green, Bradford Council's executive member for Regeneration, said: "As far as I am aware there has been no formal approach from Ilkley Parish Council regarding transferring the building however if we were to recieve such a request then we will be more than happy to give it proper consideration."

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