Why Silsden and others want to join Ilkley in split from Bradford: Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Paul Redshaw, Silsden.

I RECENTLY read David Behrens’ article asking if Ilkley would be better off outside Bradford (The Yorkshire Post, August 1). I think he has made some very valid points that many local people have realised and being concerned about for quite some time now.

As a resident of another nearby ‘fringe’ West Yorkshire town, Silsden, there is also a similar story. Silsden is very clearly in a different valley to that of Wharfedale but with it being as close to Skipton as Keighley rather unsurprisingly it has also much in common with North Yorkshire.

Time and time again though these fringe towns are being ‘dumped’ on with horrendous housing developments, which had they been built in North Yorkshire would likely be far more attractive, designed to be more sympathetic with the landscape and be more community-orientated.

Silsden it would seem, is being prescribed housing developments that are in my view unfit for purpose, offering no real community green space for children to play, pocket woodlands, footpath links or any community shops.

Silsden is a town which is developed through piecemeal development rather than a planned approach.

It would also seem that planners have either lost the will or have no control over aesthetics of a community and the desirability to make a place attractive.

As shops close, very few open which benefit local people.

It is affected daily by the noise pollution of police, fire engines and particularly ambulances which for those living on the main Bolton Road must be horrendous.

There has been continuous local support for a bypass, for over 30 years now but Bradford MDC has continuously not supported this.

Under development is a new primary school for Silsden; built on a beautiful greenfield site beside retirement bungalows it has caused uproar, as most people favoured a nearby brownfield site, but Bradford MDC chose to build it where they liked.

It is no wonder many local people feel disillusioned with Bradford MDC.

The evidence is there and as long as towns like Silsden are being sacrificed there will be movement for change.

I can see the townships David Behrens suggests; Wetherby, Otley, Ilkley, Burley along with Addingham and Silsden wanting to shift to North Yorkshire where I’m sure that these communities will be treated much fairer.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor