Plans for a £500,000-plus visitor centre providing facilities for the thousands of sightseers who visit Ilkley’s iconic Cow and Calf Rocks landmark have been unveiled.

The latest plans for a privately owned café and visitor centre on Hangingstone Road could bring much-needed public toilet facilities for Ilkley Moor and a community function room.

Those behind the plan are also proposing to power the two-storey building with an underground hydro-electric turbine, which could be studied by local schoolchildren for educational purposes.

The planning application was submitted to Bradford Council by local café owner Toni Falconi, and is now open to public viewing and consultation.

The centre is proposed on the site of a former water works building.

As well as seeking planning permission from the council, the scheme will need the go-ahead from the Secretary of State for the Environment to build on common land.

The moorside plot falls within the green belt, and is affected by legislation covering sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs).

Talks have been going on between Mr Falconi and Bradford Council officers for several years now.

Two plans for the centre were drawn up in recent years. The last scheme was handed back to the applicant by the district council, requesting more detailed information.

Mr Falconi now hopes the latest application will get the backing of the council and the Secretary of State.

He said: “We’ve been working on this project for three to four years and we’re looking forward to going ahead and having it up and running as soon as possible. I know it’s got to go to the Secretary of State but we are on the right road.”

Mr Falconi has run a café in a kiosk close to the landmark for more than 18 years, working with his wife, Doreen, who died earlier this year.

There have already been efforts made by Ilkley Parish Council to get visitor facilities for the many daytrippers and tourists who visit Ilkley Moor, including public toilets and interpretation boards giving information. The council has heard complaints in recent years about the lack of public toilet provision on the moor, despite it being a major regional landmark.

There was an unsuccessful call to convert another Yorkshire Water property on the edge of the moor.

The Cow and Calf centre has been designed by architect Richard Addenbrook, of Ilkley company Sense of Space.

Mr Addenbrook says the two-storey centre has been designed to frame the view of the Cow and Calf Rocks, and contains environmentally friendly features, as well as facilities for the community.

He said: “We’ve had numerous meetings and discussions with the council and it was felt that it would be useful to provide some extra facilities for the public. It’s quite a positive thing.”

The toilets would be accessed directly from the outside of the building. The glass-fronted building would face south, allowing for free heating from sunlight. Hydro-electric power is also being proposed, using tanks beneath the former Yorkshire Water property, and enquiries are being made about reconnecting a water main from Ghyll Head reservoir.

If this goes head, says Mr Addenbrook, a glazed panel could be fitted allowing local schoolchildren to see a turbine at work, as part of their studies.

In a design and access statement submitted to Bradford Council, Sense of Space said: “This site presents an opportunity to design a building which takes an organic form, sits well into the surrounding landscape and is far more attractive and sympathetic to the wider countryside.”

The existing car park would remain, but the present café kiosk would be demolished, if the scheme is approved.

The standard date set by the council for the end of public consultation is October 12.