THE LOSS of parking spaces at Burley Grange would be devastating to local shops competing for custom with larger shopping centres, according to the village's Chamber of Trade.

Ease of access to local businesses has been a long-running concern for the Burley-in-Wharfedale Chamber of Trade, which was already campaigning against proposals to reduce on-street parking.

Now, with the Grange almost certain to be sold off for private housing it looks as if off-street spaces will go too.

Chamber of Trade chair Peter Settle said: "We have been working for many years to increase the number of public car parking spaces at the Grange.

"The thought of losing them altogether is just madness If the public parking at the Grange is lost it would be devastating for our members."

Free public parking close to the commercial centre of the village is essential to enable local businesses to compete against larger out-of-town shops," he said.

The Chamber is urging Bradford Metropolitan Council and Burley Parish Council to replace the spaces with an alternative off-street car park adjacent to current car park at the Grange.

Mr Settle said: "The site is mostly hard landscaped already with paving stones, so the environmental loss would be minimal and access to the park would be unaffected."

District and Parish councillor Matt Palmer (Con) said he supported the idea and would investigate funding it.

"Burley needs a thriving business community and good local shops. If we are to keep them, it must be possible for people to use them," he said.

He added that the Council's parking review would also increase the availability of parking spaces near the shops.

Burley Parish Council clerk Jo Griffiths said the Parish Council's fight to retain parts of the Grange for community use was not yet over, and this includes ownership of the current and potential car parking sites.

"Definitive ownership, as with the Grange, has not been decided but we have always said we will try to retain it if we can," she said, adding: "There is also the Queen's Hall car park that people don't use perhaps as much as they could."

She said that community response to the parking review so far had been split, with some people saying there should be charges for parking and others saying that more parking should be provided.

Bradford Council Traffic and Highways department's principal engineer Simon D'Vali will present official feedback on the parking review at the Neighbourhood Forum on June 21.

He has expressed concern about visibility from the proposed new site, which may be too close to a junction.

He said: ""The new restrictions, double yellow lines, opposite the Grange are there to protect junction access and visibility"

He added that there is a proposal for unlimited all-day parking outside numbers 8 to 28 on Station Road, which will be available for anyone to use.

Bradford Metropolitan Council will be formally consulting community groups, including the Chamber of Trade, over the next few weeks.