Robbie Moore MP said:
"First, Ilkley’s Labour Mayor Karl Milner and his green, lib-dem and Labour colleagues on Ilkley Town Council ignore the results of a public consultation, in which the vast majority of those consulted expressed their opposition to a blanket scheme which encompassed a townwide 20mph zone with speeds humps.
Then, regardless of it being such a contentious issue, our Labour Mayor votes twice (the second being his casting vote) to overrule a split decision on Ilkley’s Town Council - and in doing so gives the go-ahead to the blanket townwide 20mph zone with speed humps - costing Ilkley residents £87,500 of their money in the process for something the vast majority of respondents from the public consultation didn’t want.
And now, our Town Mayor has the audacity to complain that holding a town-wide referendum on the issue would be a “charade” and “pointless”, indicating that Bradford Council are likely to ignore the referendum result as they did in Keighley when the last public referendum took place regarding the protection of the Green Space on North Street.
That’s quite the excuse, isn’t it?
Shouldn’t it be the role of the Mayor to listen to what the vast majority of people want in the first place, rather than using casting votes on contentious issues and leaving residents who feel ignored no option but to push for a referendum?
The cost of the referendum to the taxpayer could have been completely avoided altogether had Ilkley’s Labour Mayor, the Labour/ Green & Lib Dem Alliance on Ilkley’s Town Council and Bradford Council actually listened to the results of their own public consultation in the first place.
There has been a clear call for targeted road safety measures in key locations - not a blanket, townwide approach.
It’s about time Ilkley’s local representatives and Bradford Council listen to what people are saying, stopped wasting money and focused on delivering a road safety scheme which people want."
