A MAJOR Otley town centre site can only be redeveloped once the main tenant has been relocated, it has been revealed.

Leeds City Council-owned Ashfield Works, off Westgate, will most probably be redeveloped with a mixture of houses and leisure associated buildings - with the possibility of caf bars where the site borders the River Wharfe.

But until main tenant, Jefferies Haulage, is found another base within Otley, the council is happy to leave the situation as it is.

And it would prefer the whole area - taking in the site of the recently demolished Beech Hill Cinema - was developed together and not bit by bit as different parts became available.

On Monday, John Ansbro, director of Leeds' property arm, the Leeds Development Agency, told town councillors that the LDA would not force Jefferies out and was doing all it could to find another site within the town.

And he told the members of the council's environmental and economic development sub-committee that the best chance of another site was if an area of land became available with the building of the East of Otley Relief Road.

Mr Ansbro added he had no way of knowing exactly when work on the road would start but he believed it would be fairly soon.

"The council has not been seeking to move Jefferies Transport from there because it is certainly a viable business in the town and jobs would be put at risk.

"We are continuing to look for alternative locations for the operation within Otley and it needs to be sorted out first.

"We are waiting to see what happens with the relief road. Jefferies is a big employer in the area and we need to resolve the question of relocation in the area. It is not an easy one," said Mr Ansbro.

The three and threequarter-acre site was identified in 1992 as a suitable area for a mixture of residential and leisure development.

It was also put forward as a possible site for a new Wharfedale Hospital but was ruled out because of poor access.

Councillor Phil Coyne (Lab, Otley and Wharfedale) said it was a very important site in the town which needed to be handled sensitively. "Certainly it is an important site for the vitality of the town. It has a superb river frontage, I can imagine standing there with a gin and tonic. We've not got a river front caf bar and we need something of quality like that in Otley."

Coun Coyne added a mixture of shop units and homes would be favoured but that the whole site should be the subject of a planning brief that could be discussed with people in the town.

Richard Jefferies, of Jefferies Haulage, said he did not want to move out of the town and would welcome a site near to the new East of Otley relief road.

"I've not had any pressure on me to move, the council has always been all right with me and I've never had a complaint in 25 years."

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