THE first ever annual meeting of Ilkley Town Council, was held on Monday, March 25 and included the annual report by the Town Mayor, Steve Butler.

“What is the point of the Town Council?” he asked. “We aim to help the people in Ilkley by working with them; working for them; and representing them.”

He went on to list some of the work done in the last year by the newly created Town Council, going through an A - Z of some of the initiatives the Town Council has been involved in.

These include: allotments; Armistice Day; the Business Improvement District; Christmas Lights; Concert on the Grove; Coutances Twinning; Darwin Gardens; elections in May this year; flags; Friends of Riverside Parks; Greenway; highways; Ilkley Business Awards; supporting Ilkley Cycle Race, Ilkley Playhouse, Ilkley Festival of Arts and almost anything else which starts with the word Ilkley; Jubilee Lights; Kings Hall; library; meetings; Neighbourhood Plan; Nell Bank; openings; parking; police and community support officer; public meeting in Ben Rhydding; recycling; sewage; street banners; toilets; Tour de Yorkshire; tourism issues; town centre warden; U3A; volunteers; Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts; exceptional staff in the office; Yorkshire Day and youth club.

He also praised the zeal of the town councillors: “Even if they only spend one hour a day on their duties each day (and most spend far more) they each do 365 hours per year, a total of 5,110 hours, or 213 days - over 30 weeks a year of time given voluntarily to the town,” he added.

He finished by thanking Cllr Brian Mann, standing down as a councillor after 18 years, for all his service to the town. Many present asked questions and there followed a short presentation by Anne Cuthbertson of Wharfedale Tackles Plastic.

The meeting took place at the Clarke Foley Centre.