AN AMBITIOUS bid to build a Millennium Green in Otley is virtually doomed to failure, organisers have admitted this week.

Time has almost run out to find an alternative site for the green, which would have been a showpiece to top the town's millennium celebrations.

The town won £30,000 matched funding from the Countryside Commission to build a green on land behind Otley Mills, but as the Wharfedale Observer revealed in June, the site was not viable because of alleged contamination.

Despite an appeal for other potential sites, no-one has been able to come up with any viable proposals.

Now there is every chance that Otley will have to pass on the money earmarked for the project.

One of the three members of the Otley Millennium Green committee, Les Cross, said: "We had a couple of suggestions but nothing suitable. We have more or less come to the conclusion that there isn't a viable alternative to the site we originally had.

"To be honest, time is just really stacked against us now. If someone had come up with an alternate scheme a year ago, then fine, but now we are up against the clock and frankly even if someone came up with something now it could be too late.

"We would still have to go through the vigorous checks on the land and then look at ways of raising enough money to match the money the lottery allocated us. We had secured some money from

various sources, but that was for the previous site.

"I'm afraid it's not looking very positive for the millennium green."

Mr Cross added that another project was in the very early stages which supersedes the millennium money. He said that there was a possibility of applying to the lottery's Heritage Improvement Fund for a scheme to improve Otley's Maypole, but added that it was too early to release full details.