AN early resolution to the wrangle over the former Yorkshire Water pumping station on the edge of Ilkley Moor looks increasingly unlikely.

Ever since Yorkshire Water announced plans to sell off the redundant building there has been controversy over its use.

Parish councillors in Ilkley initially wanted the building as a visitor centre but had to admit that there were not enough funds available to buy it.

It was bought by businessman Ronnie Salmon as a private home for his family, but work carried out around the building on his behalf has led to further wrangles and the threat of legal action.

Mr Salmon says he has no plans to meet the group which is threatening to take him to court for allegedly impeding access to common land.

But not everyone agrees Mr Salmon should be taken to task over the work he has done around the Wells Road building.

The Friends of Ilkley Moor (FOIM) group is threatening to sue Mr Salmon to force him to take down fences, bushes, a surfaced driveway and a dog kennel he has had erected around the building.

Friends’ chairman Owen Wells says that Mr Salmon has blocked access to common land, which is forbidden by law.

Although Mr Salmon says he has carried on all the work in co-operation with planning officers, Mr Wells says they did not have the legal power to authorise the work.

Mr Wells said: “This land is governed by the Commons Act 2006. Under this legislation no works that have the effect of preventing or impeding access over or through the land may be carried out without the approval of the appropriate national authority – which is the the Secretary of State.”

Asked what is response to the legal threat was, Mr Salmon said: “At the end of the day, it is up to them. I can’t comment on what other people want to do or not do.

“I am not planning to do anything different than work in line with the approval I have got. I have gone about it in the best way I could.”

He maintains that all the work was carried out after consultations – off and on site – with planning officers.

Ilkley planning chiefs have said that they are talking to the council’s legal department and countryside service to work out whether any of the fencing at the rear of the building contravenes access regulations.

The confusion surrounds fences and gates erected by Yorkshire Water when it owned and operated the pumping station.

Ilkley planning boss Chris Greaves said that if Yorkshire Water fences were knocked down by walkers leaving the ground open, it left a question mark over the legal status of access to the site if fresh fences and gates were erected in their place.

Asked if he was planning to meet members of the FOIM to try to sort the row out, Mr Salmon said: “I am not sure if it is prudent to do that.

“I have no idea what the best course of action is. I am just doing whatever I think proper and going about it the best way I can.”

Ilkley businessman and member of the town’s Rotary Club Philip Chinque said he supported Mr Salmon’s position.

He said: “Since the house was converted, I wondered who would want to live there, it looked out of place. But now with the changes to the exterior I think a great improvement has been achieved very sympathetically.

“Although the Friends are engaged in other good works, I do not agree with the demands they are making with this property.”

Mr Wells said that there had been a planning condition that Mr Salmon would not erect fences around the property but that was later rescinded by the planning department.

Mr Salmon said that the fences around the side and front of the property were temporary to protect freshly planted hedges until they had established themselves.

Mr Chinque said: “I support the mission statement of the Friends of Ilkley Moor to restore, protect and improve the Moor for the benefit of the environment and those who reside in the surrounding area.

“The list of current projects undertaken by the Friends to clear paths and bracken is laudable. But I do wonder whether in focusing on the work undertaken with the former Yorkshire Water pumping station if they are not misdirecting their efforts?

“Is the property really different from the houses along Crossbeck Road or Westwood Drive which also back onto the Moor?”

And of the legal threat posed by the FOIM, Mr Chinque said: “I do not know the legal position, but then apparently nor do the various authorities who have so far gone along with the conversion of this property.

“It does seem though that as the public Wells Road is on the northern boundary of the property, it cannot be said, as the Friends are reported to have done, that the house is entirely surrounded by common land.

“Before the conversion of the property, the site effectively was an industrial site.

“And, unless there was agreement to pull it down and have the land returned to its former use before it became a pumping station, whatever use the building might have been used for as a museum or visitor centre, some element of maintenance/building work would have been necessary.

“When the pumping station had been converted to a domestic dwelling it looked very much out of place. The work by the new owner has improved the setting and makes it merge in a not unpleasant way with the surroundings – much more so than if this work had not been done.

“It could be argued that in carrying out the changes, the new owner has actually supported the work of the Friends.

“As a member of the local public, I would not want to gain access to the moor through a court order to reverse this work and have the land put back to its former condition.”

Unless a compromise can be reached it seems the row could drag on, and if lawyers become involved, the cost could go through the roof.