IT hardly seems like five minutes since local representatives fought a tough battle to prevent unwanted development in Ilkley and the surrounding villages at the last Unitary Development Plan (UDP) public inquiry.

Yet on Tuesday it all begins again with the expensive and long drawn out examination of the shape the district is going to take over the next 15 years.

This time, as far as the Wharfe Valley is concerned, Bradford planners seem to have worked with, rather than against local people to preserve the green belt from being carpeted with concrete and bricks.

Instead of producing the UDP like a rabbit from a hat and throwing it into the arena, this time the planners had the foresight to consult with locals before producing their planning blueprint.

And they seem to have taken notice of the strength of feeling that exists in this part of the district against altering its special character and charm.

So the people of Ilkley will begin the public inquiry as allies rather than adversaries of the planning department.

It is a somewhat surprising alliance given the uneasy relationship which exists between City Hall and the 'Jewel in the Crown' of the Bradford district.

On the other side of no-man's land we have developers and their representatives who will try to convince Government planning inspectors that the green belt in Wharfedale needs to be covered with executive style £300,000 houses. But as the inspectors all work for the Department of the Environment, and the present UDP, concentrating as it does on in-fill development on 'brownfield' sites, the developers are already facing a major handicap.

The Government's avowed strategy is to preserve as much green belt as possible, which is exactly the aim of the UDP. It seems as if the developers could be on a hiding to nothing, but nothing as yet can be taken for granted until the six-month inquiry is completed and the inspectors' final report is delivered.