Keighley, Ilkley and Shipley should stay in Bradford rather than form breakaway council – YP Letters

By YP Letters
Published 25th Feb 2022, 08:38 BST
Ilkley currently comes under the jurisdiction of Bradford Council as Keighley MP Robbie Moore presses for the formation of a new council.Ilkley currently comes under the jurisdiction of Bradford Council as Keighley MP Robbie Moore presses for the formation of a new council.
Ilkley currently comes under the jurisdiction of Bradford Council as Keighley MP Robbie Moore presses for the formation of a new council.
IT’S a common delusion in smaller towns in larger authorities that they will somehow be better off if they leave (The Yorkshire Post, February 22).

I’ve seen it in many places – the locals steam up about alleged slights by “big brother” – but solid evidence is usually lacking.

Robbie Moore to put plan to take Keighley, Ilkley and Shipley out of Bradford Council control to Parliament

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Those who promote such ideas invariably have never experienced a local government re-organisation. They are not recommended.

Ilkley currently comes under the jurisdiction of Bradford Council.Ilkley currently comes under the jurisdiction of Bradford Council.
Ilkley currently comes under the jurisdiction of Bradford Council.

However, we are in a political landscape where gimmicks count for everything and common sense for little, hence the crowd-pleasing Bill by Robbie Moore and Philip Davies. I expect it to fail.

If their Bill succeeds, I can safely predict that the smaller partners in the new authority would soon complain that the larger town in the authority was ignoring them, hogging all the resources etc.

Like almost all other councils, Bradford has suffered enormous cuts in Government funding since the Conservative election victory in 2010, affecting Shipley, Ilkley and Keighley too.

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It is a shame that the two MPs have not seen fit to campaign for funds to be restored rather than a wild goose chase to create a new council.

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Related topics:BradfordYorkshire PostIlkleyRobbie MooreBradford Council

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