Ilkley parking changes get the green light

Bradford Council’s Executive agreed Tuesday morning to adopt the parking recommendations made by an independent review, which include permit parking for residents and pay and display on streets.

The Executive were presented with a report on the progress of the Ilkley parking review and the findings from the recent public consultation. They were told there have been discussions to include some daytime parking on streets that were marked for residential parking only and issue special permits for business employees, which would be carefully looked at street by street.

At the three public consultation sessions a large number of ‘have your say’ forms were filled in, the results show only 14% were in favour of pay and display parking, 44% had no preference and 42% against. Whilst 32% were in favour of residents only parking, 29% no preference and 39% against.

Other matters raised included more off street parking being made available, parking on Stockheld Road and Old Bridge Lane to be reconsidered and concerns on the negative impact on businesses.

Both Ilkley ward councillors, Anne Hawkesworth and Martin Smith were present and stressed the need to look at commuter parking both to the east and west of the town. Simon D'vali, Principal Engineer for Highways at Bradford Council said ‘internal discussions are underway for additional Ben Rhydding parking.’

The Executive were told by Cllr Alex Ross-Shaw, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, that the ‘business consultation continues and there’s still a way to go.’ It was also said that once the changes are made they would be carefully monitored, so any flaws can be corrected.

The Council plans to double the number of proposed disabled parking bays making Ilkley more accessible for disabled drivers and introduce a new loading bay to support business use in the town centre.

The final proposals have to be advertised, any objections will need to follow the democratic process, and as such, implementation of the scheme could take up to six months.

Download and read the report here.

Watch the podcast of the Executive meeting here.

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