MYSTERY surrounds the new owners of the vacant Tesco site in Ilkley after the retail giant revealed this week it has sold the land.

The supermarket chain announced in September last year it was scrapping plans for a new store in the town, blaming a change in customer shopping habits for the decision, with more people buying online and in convenience stores.

A company spokesman told the Ilkley Gazette they had "made the difficult decision to sell the site".

Since then, Tesco has been actively marketing the former Spooner factory site, off Railway Road and Mayfield Road.

The company is now in a position to announce a sale has been agreed, but is remaining tight-lipped about the new owners and what their plans are for the site.

A Tesco spokesman said this week: "Since we announced we would not be delivering a new store at this location, we have been actively marketing the land.

"We are keen to ensure it is brought back into use as quickly as possible and are pleased to confirm we have agreed the sale of the site."

He added: "We will keep the community updated and hope to be able to confirm who will be bringing forward plans for the site in the coming weeks."

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth (Ind, Ilkley) said she was aware there had been discussions between Bradford Council's planning department and a potential purchaser.

"I know there has been some pre-application discussions, but I don't know who with," she said.

"I think it seems to be around the lines of a mixed use site. There did not appear to be any reference to residential use, but I am waiting for more details. Of course, anyone who buys the site can sell on, in part."

She added: "I think mixed use would be good, but it should have some residential element of starter homes."

Councillor Martin Smith (Con, Ilkley) said he hoped the mixed use of the site would generate more jobs for Ilkley, more low cost accommodation and more car parking.

A Bradford Council planning department spokesman said: "Discussions of this nature are commercially sensitive."

Ilkley Parish Council considered submitting its own planning application for the former Tesco site at the end of last year, with parish councillor Mike Ridgway leading calls for the land to be used for extra car parking for the town.

And in October last year, Ilkley engineering firm Spooner Industries Ltd also expressed an interest in the land, which had previously housed the firm's former factory, before it moved to purpose-built premises on neighbouring land.

With sales reaching £30 million a year and some manufacturing work being outsourced, the company said it was looking for space to expand.

The new Tesco store plans in Ilkley were approved as the result of a public inquiry in 2010, having initially been turned down by Bradford Council. Planning permission was renewed by the local authority in 2013.

There had been strong opposition to the plans for a new store, amid fears it could put small independent traders out of business and create traffic problems.

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