Ilkley town leaders have turned down an offer of banding together with other parish and town councils in a bid to put more pressure on larger bodies.
Keighley Town Council has asked all parish and town councils in the Keighley constituency if they wanted to form a group to share resources and work together.
A similar arrangement has been set up by parish and town councils elsewhere in Yorkshire to use the combined strength of the small councils for the benefit of several communities.
But Ilkley Parish Council's General Purposes Committee has ruled out the clustering arrangement with Keighley Town Council outright.
Parish councillors instead say they would be happy to work with neighbouring parishes on an informal level as they have done previously.
Councillor Heathcliffe Bowen, chairman of Ilkley Parish Council and the General Purposes Committee, said: "It was greeted with a resounding No'.
"We felt there were enough bodies that we could approach if we need to have a bigger say on anything, and obviously if there are any particular issues, we use our informal links."
Keighley Town Council's clerk Miggy Bailey, formerly Ilkley's parish clerk, described the decision as disappointing.
She said the town council was encouraging links with town and parish councils in light of new legislation due to be introduced soon.
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