BRADFORD Council's most senior officer will visit Ilkley this week to see the town's difficulties with parking, planning, and other issues first hand.

Ilkley's three ward councillors are due to meet the chief executive of Bradford Council, Kersten England, tomorrow in an effort to urgently bring long-running local problems to the attention of all local authority departments.

The meeting has been called by Councillor Martin Smith (Con, Ilkley), who has also invited one of the authority's senior planning officers to attend.

He said: "There's a perceived view that in Bradford that you don't need to talk about Ilkley, it doesn't have problems. Ilkley does have its problems and we want to solve them."

Cllr Smith is keen to encourage Bradford Council decision-makers to visit the town and see for themselves what difficulties the area has.

Independent ward councillor, Anne Hawkesworth, and Conservative ward councillor, Mike Gibbons, will also be at the meeting with the chief executive, and Cllr Smith says the intention is to see some problems in the town in person, as well as discuss issues in depth behind the scenes.

Among the issues due to be in the spotlight are: planning, car parking difficulties including commuter parking provision, school places, the green belt and planning policy.

The meeting was called following a recent decision of Keighley and Shipley Area Planning Panel - informed by a report from council officers - to grant planning permission for two shops in Ilkley town centre to be converted to a restaurant.

There were concerns from objectors that too many restaurants and cafes are opening in the town, at the expense of the heart of the town's retail area.

Cllr Smith wants to see more joined-up thinking between Council departments.

Housebuilding allocations backed by Bradford Council as part of its proposed Local Plan are also expected to part of the discussions.

Cllr Smith is also questioning why Ilkley has been left out of a West Yorkshire combined authority bid for improvements to station car parks. Steeton is among railway stations highlighted in the bid, where it is common for commuters to drive in from further afield and park up all day while catching a train on to Leeds or Bradford.

Cllr Smith says this is also a problem in Ilkley, and Ilkley's station car parking should also be made a priority.