More power for parish councils has been demanded by Keighley's would-be Tory MP.

Prospective parliamentary candidate Simon Cooke, pictured, has called for a bigger role for the councils in planning and community regeneration.

His comments to the Northern Housing and Planning Association Conference came in the wake of Bradford council moves to increase parish power.

The district's Labour rulers have been building closer links with parish councils over the past few months and are considering giving them cash to provide more local services.

Calls are also being made by Keighley councillors and townspeople to set up a town council with identical powers to parish councils.

Mr Cooke, when speaking to the conference in Scarborough on Friday, argued that any move to scrap parish councils would be a retrograde step.

He said: "Parish councils should be given the power to challenge so-called "definitive maps" and I would allow them to change such maps when a misconception is evident.

"I would put in place a stage during the development planning process when parish councils can overturn a particular allocatio."

Mr Cooke emphasised that such overturning would be on local planning grounds rather than on the "not in my back yard" principle.

He added: "Parish councils could take the lead role in developing plans for job creation and service development within their community.

"District and county councils are missing a trick if they fail to recognise the huge bank of local knowledge, intelligence and commitment that is represented by parish councils."

Mr Cooke said he believed that parish councils enhanced local democracy process and the efforts of members on behalf of their communities should be appreciated.

Mr Cooke will invite Oxenhope, Silsden and Steeton-with-Eastburn parish councils to comment on his ideas.

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