As Burley-in-Wharfedale and Menston stand poised on the brink of separating from Ilkley it is strange to reflect on the fact that 70 years ago the whole process was happening in reverse.

Back in the 1930s, Burley already had its own established council, but the Local Government Act of 1929 meant its independence was soon to come to an end.

The act called on county councils to review their districts, and it ultimately led to a reduction in the number of urban district councils.

The story of the Burley council's demise and the attempts to form a new joint Burley and Menston council are told in a new book 'Independent Burley: A village, its people and its councils' which will be released this spring as the village is about to become independent for the first time in almost 70 years.

The work of local historians Dennis and Margaret Warwick, it provides a fascinating insight into the way local government has emerged and changed in the village covering parish government under the Poor Law of 1601, the Burley Board of Health from 1854, and the Burley Urban District Council from 1895.

Burley's history of running its own affairs was set to come to an end in 1937 when it was amalgamated with Ilkley -- but not without a struggle.

Many in Burley wanted to join forces with Menston -- which was itself fighting plans to be teamed up with Otley - to form a new mid-Wharfedale council.

That proposal led to a great deal of criticism from Ilkley UDC.

The Warwicks say: "Little progress in reaching a decision seems to have been made in 1931, though Addingham residents apparently threw in their hats, wanting to be included in a scheme with Ilkley.

"As the date in 1932 for submissions to the Government approached, no agreement had been reached on an acceptable amalgamation.

"The Wharfedale newspapers urged the parties to consider a much broader scheme, including Ilkley and Otley. Under a heading, Uniting Wharfedale, it was suggested that the Town Hall in Ilkley with its fine buildings could be the headquarters, while Otley would retain its Court buildings, its markets and its Parliamentary constituency status. This did not have any effect and the date for submission passed without an agreed solution."

But it was pointed out that the the mid-Wharfedale scheme would require a bridge over the River Wharfe at Greenholme -- and there were those who felt the estimated £60,000 needed for this made it too costly.

The Warwicks say: "A special Review Committee of the County Council obviously took the point and in their report in July 1933 recommended that Burley and Menston should be linked with Ilkley UDC. This immediately brought much public protest from Burley and Menston, but the Wharfedale Newspapers reported that at a joint meeting of Burley and Menston councillors, while there was still some hankering after their own proposal, privately expressed views suggested that they were resigned to the amalgamation with Ilkley, as the lesser of two evils. They preferred to be linked with Ilkley than with Otley."

Widespread protest erupted after the County Council issued a proposal to combine Otley, Ilkley, Burley and Menston.

The Warwicks say: "The Otley and Ilkley representatives were almost at one another's throats, but agreed to private talks to try to resolve their differences.

"In Ilkley, a strong protest movement emerged to maintain the independence of Ilkley from Otley. A joint statement by Ilkley, Burley and Menston councillors was issued in August 1934, rejecting the large authority proposed by the County Council.

"Despite this, with Otley support the County Council submitted its scheme to Whitehall in February 1935.

"As opposition to the 'Big Scheme' grew in intensity, however, the County Council realised that a large Wharfedale Council could never work and withdrew that proposal from Government scrutiny.

"Further meetings of Otley and Ilkley representatives, to which Burley and Menston were invited, then took place. The meetings were reported fully in the Ilkley Gazette in July 1935.

"Ilkley councillors made it clear that they would never accept the formation of a large Wharfedale authority.

"Otley and Ilkley were chalk and cheese, the one industrial and working class, the other residential and middle class.

"If Ilkley could not be allowed to stand alone, their preference was for an enlarged Ilkley area to include the parishes of Denton, Middleton, and Nesfield with Langbar.

"The inclusion of Burley in an Ilkley Urban District was not thought to be a good solution, as it also meant polluting Ilkley's character, the inland spa, its residential community, along with its rural neighbours -- with the industrial smoke of Burley.

"However, being pragmatic, they did say that they would if there was no alternative except a fusion of Ilkley with Burley and Menston.

"The Burley councillors were quite enraged by this. Now led by Councillor H Stirk, they angrily retorted that they wished neither to be linked with Otley (incensed by Ilkley's lumping them together as industrial places) nor Ilkley.

In a vote of all Burley rate payers, they claimed ninety percent were in favour of a Burley and Menston Council. In contrast to Ilkley's view of Burley, they said there was only one working mill, the area was now largely residential, and they had their own waterworks and joint sewerage system."

But these arguments came to nothing when in 1936 Whitehall decided on a final scheme against which there would be no right of appeal. Ilkley, Burley, and the greater part of Menston were to be united from April 1937.