Ilkley Town Council is hosting a town meeting at 7.00pm on Monday 9 March in All Saints Church.
On the agenda will be the Grove, the top of Brook Street, the proposed 20mph zones, and provision for cyclists and pedestrians.
The meeting is an opportunity to hear the views of residents, local businesses and organisations on changes and improvements which they would like to see in Ilkley Centre.
All of these issues are under consideration in one form or another by Bradford Council. The Town Council feels that it is important for residents to air their views at an early stage, so that these views can feed into proposals coming forward for formal consultation.
The council feels that there is a very wide range of views in the town on these issues, and some are very contentious. Suggestions for the Grove range from widening it to make traffic free-flowing in both directions, to pedestrianising it in order to make it easier and safer to move about on foot or by bicycle.
Some would like to make the top of Brook Street a completely light-controlled junction, whilst others would like to maintain and improve the existing zebra crossings. Safety at the Railway Road crossing needs to be improved. The 20mph zones and improving cycling provision may be less contentious but there are still likely to be a wide range of views and suggestions.
The opinions and views aired at the meeting will form the basis of further surveys and opinion gathering, leading in due course to a submission to Bradford Council.
It is intended to encourage free and open discussion at the meeting, without pre-conceptions of what may or may not be allowed by regulation or possible within financial constraints. It is also hoped to bring in ideas from elsewhere about how to balance the interests of people and the needs of traffic.
Ilkley Town Council encourages residents to attend and tell Councillors how you feel about these issues.