Important planning decisions affecting Ilkley are being delegated to council officers not familiar with the area, claims a civic watchdog.

Ilkley Civic Society fears a “lack of consistency” in decision-making by Bradford Council’s planning department, and claims public involvement in planning has been hit.

The society, promoting high standards of planning and architecture, is concerned that increasing centralisation of planning services could hinder local efforts to shape development in Ilkley.

Chairman Helen Kidman said: “We are concerned about the lack of consistency in decision-making by Bradford officers. The number of different officers dealing with Ilkley appears to have increased. Planning officers are no longer on hand for advice and guidance.

“We are very concerned about decisions delegated to planning officers who are not familiar with Ilkley. For example, often in Ilkley what is planned for the rear of a building can be just as important as the frontage, particularly as so many buildings can be viewed from above.”

The computerisation of plans, and loss of facilities at Ilkley Town Hall, is also making it difficult for many residents to scrutinise planning applications, fears the society.

Mrs Kidman says committee members can no longer gather to study drawings and related written documents – instead viewing them online individually to discuss at a later meeting.

The society claims the computerised planning system also provides obstacles for people without home IT access, while public-access computers at Ilkley Library have small screens, and documents on Bradford Council’s website can be slow to load.

Mrs Kidman said: “We consider that for many people, involvement in local authority planning has been curtailed.”

Bradford Council’s Assistant Director for Planning, Transport-ation and Highways, Julian Jackson, said changes were introduced to make the system more efficient and cost-effective.

He said: “All our officers are highly skilled and able to deal professionally with all applications submitted across the district. “Planning officers make some decisions under delegated powers but those decisions are taken only in the case of applications which are smaller in scale, comply with the Council’s adopted policies and have not attracted strong objection.

“All other applications have to be debated by the area planning committee which is made up of elected members who are very familiar with the area.”