Councillors call for land to be safeguarded for Ilkley recycling centre site
District councillors are calling on Bradford Council to safeguard part of the Wheatley Grange Farm site as a potential location for a replacement household waste and recycling centre serving Ilkley and the surrounding area.
The Council is proposing to sell the land, off the A65 Coutances Way opposite Moss & Moor Garden Centre and adjacent to the existing Yorkshire Water sewage works, but local Conservative councillors from Ilkley and Addingham Ward, and Wharfedale Ward are urging it not to dispose of the site until the feasibility of retaining part of it for a new recycling centre has been properly explored.
Ilkley and Addingham Councillors Jane Sellers, Richard Downey and Andrew Loy suggested the idea in their very first meeting with the relevant portfolio holder on the new Council Executive following the local elections in May.
The former recycling centre on Golden Butts Road closed in March 2024 and the site was sold earlier this year. Residents now have to make a 22 mile round trip to Keighley to dispose of waste which cannot be collected at the kerbside.
The councillors have also raised concerns about fly-tipping in the local area and they believe restoring convenient local access to a household waste and recycling centre should form part of the Council’s wider efforts to tackle the problem.
Cllr Jane Sellers (Ilkley and Addingham) said: “The immediate priority is to make sure we don’t lose a potential opportunity before it has even been properly considered. With the Council proposing to sell Wheatley Grange Farm, we are asking it to safeguard enough of the site to allow its suitability for a replacement recycling centre to be fully investigated.
“We know how important the Golden Butts Road facility was to local residents. We should be making it easier, not harder, for people to dispose of waste responsibly and recycle wherever possible.”
Cllr Peter Cochrane (Wharfedale) said: “Once council-owned land has been sold, the opportunity is gone. That is why we are calling on the Council not to dispose of the site without first establishing whether part of it could be retained for this purpose.
“There is still a great deal of work that would need to be done before any new facility could become a reality, but we want to make sure the option remains open and that the Council gives it serious consideration.”
In the meantime, the councillors have pledged to continue discussions with Bradford Council and seek further work on the suitability of the site and what would be required to establish a replacement facility.
