Plan to ban all-day town street parking

It will affect many local workers as well as those who leave their cars in residential streets all day while they commute to Leeds and Bradford by bus and train.

The parking restrictions form part of a massive £1.1 million transport improvements scheme for Ilkley.

And there are fears that vehicles could be banned from the streets before alternative parking spaces are provided.

Traffic regulation orders splitting the centre of Ilkley into four zones are being prepared so residents and other users can suggest improvements such as parking restrictions.

It is expected that many traditional parking streets will be closed off to long stay commuter parking by next summer.

Ilkley District Councillor (Con) Martin Smith, deputy chairman of the Keighley Area Committee which is considering the traffic orders, said that people will have to think about their traffic movements and whether there was a need to abandon their cars in Ilkley's residential streets all day.

"It is a bit of an exercise to let us structure our lives so we can cope with the hopper bus and or walk, and or cycle.

"We may get the town much clearer of traffic for visitors to find somewhere to park. Visitors will put money into the economy."

He said that after consulting with as many local people as possible, certain roads which at present allow all day parking, may be changed to shorter-term or permit-only to allow residents and visitors, but not commuters, to park.

He also said there would be an effort to persuade Metro, the transport authority, to alter bus timetables so commuters found it easier to use public transport for the whole of their journey to work and back.

Coun Smith said: "The idea is to maximise the space we have in the town. If that means that someone will have to review their travel arrangements so that it benefits the whole community I am for that. We want to have a thriving centre."

But commuter representatives fear that the parking bans will be in place before the alternative arrangements.

In the latest Faber Maunsell report alternative parking arrangements for commuters will be provided by a £200,000 park and ride scheme at Ben Rhydding.

There will also be moves to synchronise bus and rail timetables, allowing commuters to leave their cars at home.

But there is no specific time scale for when these alternative arrangements will be in place, particularly the park and ride scheme which could run into difficulties because it encroaches upon green belt land.

Tom Wesley, chairman of Wharfedale Rail Users' Group (WRUG) acknowledged that there would be problems for commuters.

Mr Wesley said: "There are some pluses and some negatives. The phasing will cause a problem and they can't alter the buses that easily."

He also accepted that some commuters, particularly those travelling to Bradford where congestion and parking problems have not reached the intolerable proportions of Leeds, may decide to drive all the way to work.

He said: "There are difficult problems and you can't directly solve them. At the moment there is a feeling that people using the train are blocking up residential streets.

"It may be years before there is a park and ride at Ben Rhydding but I don't know what can be done about it. We recognise some changes will bring positive benefits and some will be negative."

Bradford's head of environment, Parish and District Councillor Anne Hawkesworth (Con) said: "There is a big issue of people coming and leaving their cars for an indefinite period. It paralyses the centre of Ilkley and that issue has to be addressed.

"This is the starting process and it is going to have the effect of enablingpeople to park more easily when they come into the centre of town."

Bradford Highway officer John Blackburn said that once the four zones had been acknowledged, there would be a systematic identification of the problems and consultation with local people to work out a solution.

A rolling programme of work, including parking restrictions, has a deadline for completion of next summer.

Helen Kidman, chairman of Ilkley Civic Society, agreed that commuters would not like the proposals. She said the restriction would force commuters to think about making alternative arrangements to get to work.

Mrs Kidman said: "There are all sorts of different sides to this argument. We had a huge amount of input into the Faber Maunsell report. We are in favour of almost everything.