‘Ducks in a row’ call to counter LDF plans (From Ilkley Gazette)

‘Ducks in a row’ call to counter LDF plans

9:00am Wednesday 12th September 2012 in News

A senior councillor says organisations need to get their ‘ducks in a row’ for an orchestrated response to council plans to build thousands of new homes by 2028.

Ilkley ward councillor Anne Hawkesworth has been leading a series of meetings of the ‘Wharfe-dale Alliance’ to create a unified front for organis-ations along the Wharfe Valley to Bradford Coun-cil’s Local Development Framework (LDF).

Coun Hawkesworth and some parish councils, civic societies and represen-tatives from other groups in Ilkley, Menston, Burley-in-Wharfedale and Adding-ham have been meeting to discuss their opposition to plans for about 3,000 new homes in the area, drawn up as part of the LDF vision for the district until 2028.

So far the meetings have been through invitation only, but Coun Hawkes-worth hopes the groups will soon have a co-ordinated response to the LDF and can then open up the meetings to the wider public.

She said: “We’ve got to get our ducks in a row and sort out where we are going.

“To have open meetings at the moment would not be an easy thing to do. Hopefully, soon, interested residents will be able to attend.”