Opportunity for creative thinking

Its style harks back to the days when wealthy industrialists commissioned architects to design gracious new homes.

Sadly, as anyone with the slightest interest in the subject of historic buildings knows all too well, many such properties - homes and commercial - have vanished under the demolition hammer.

In the current climate, when every penny counts, the cost of keeping and maintaining such buildings has to be taken into account by the keepers of the public purse. But money must not be the only driving factor.

Councillor Barry Thorne is one of those spearheading demands that any future development of the site is carried out sympathetically.

The Yorkshire Gardens Trust is supporting the stance as rare species have been uncovered and several historic features revealed. So much so the gardens have been given grade two listing on an English Heritage national register.

This week a further historic link has been uncovered linking Whinburn to the 17th-century East Riddlesden Hall. The need to protect a colony of bats must not be overlooked either.

With its fascinating history, and with many Victorian and Edwardian buildings still in use, Keighley is truly a town where the past meets the present. That very situation brings with it a mixture of challenges and opportunities for those involved in the delicate act of balancing the building books.

It can be done - for example the new bus station and the bus company cleaning and preserving the exterior of Cavendish House.

Whinburn presents a wonderful opportunity for creative thinking for the future. It must be kept safe and secure until the right decision is made.