Draft Bradford District Local Plan - Preferred Options (Regulation 18) February 2021

Ilkley

Introduction

5.17.1 Ilkley is a former spa town situated in the Wharfe Valley, at the southern end of the Yorkshire Dales. The town is located approximately 22km to the north of Bradford city centre on the A65, the main transport route connecting Leeds to Skipton and beyond. The town is surrounded by Green Belt and dramatic and sensitive Pennine moorland landscapes, with Ilkley Moor/Rombolds Moor located directly to the South and the Nidderdale Area of Natural Beauty (AONB) to the North and the River Wharfe flowing through the centre of the town.

5.17.2 Ilkley is the principal town of Wharfedale with its public administrative, cultural, retail, tourism and leisure functions with excellent rail and bus connections with Bradford and Leeds, and is now primarily a commuter settlement. It is one of four settlements located in the Wharfedale sub-area. Ilkley falls within the Keighley Parliamentary Constituency and within the Ilkley Ward.

5.17.3 Ilkley has a population of 14,334, with a below average percentage of this population (54.2%) falling within the working age category (16-64). Ilkley has higher proportion of older persons aged over 65 (28.4%) and lower proportion of children aged below 16 years (17.4%) compared to the West Yorkshire and England averages. The ethnic composition of Ilkley is primarily made up of people who identify themselves as White British (94%), this is a higher proportion than the West Yorkshire average (78.4%). This is a notably higher proportion than the West Yorkshire average, but is similar to other rural settlements in the District

5.17.4 The settlement has an emerging Neighbourhood Plan. Consultation on Regulation 19 of the Ilkley Neighbourhood Plan was undertaken in 2019 and once adopted will form part of the development plan for Bradford district.

Figure 1: Location Plan

Planning for Prosperity

5.17.5 The Local Plan settlement hierarchy identifies Ilkley a one of the three principal towns in the District. This means it is a local focus for housing, employment, shopping, leisure, education, health and cultural activities and facilities.

5.17.6 Ilkley is a relatively affluent area. The Ilkley ward is ranked 29th of 30 wards in the District for the 2019 Index of Multiple Deprivation where 1 is the most deprived (Manningham ward) and 30 is the least deprived (Wharfedale).

Figure 2: Index of Multiple Deprivation – Ilkley

Economy and Employment

5.17.6 The average income is £49,118 per household, which is significantly higher than the West Yorkshire average of £38,499. There are 6,770 people (70.2%) who are economically active in the area, similar to the West Yorkshire average. As a Principal Town, Ilkley is the focus for levels of development appropriate to its size for employment, retail, leisure and tourism.

5.17.7 There are employment opportunities within the town with most jobs being focussed around the retail or service sector. The town centre has a small office market, which is the most active in Wharfedale. Typically, future business demand in Wharfedale is from local businesses that want smaller space. There are a number of protected employment areas within the town, which provide local employment opportunities. The protection of existing employment stock is important for sustainability and growth. Tourism is also a continuing and major financial and employment contributor to the Ilkley economy.

5.17.8 No specific employment allocation is proposed for this Principal Town, although under Policy SP6 economic growth and investment will continue to be supported particularly with a focus upon the priority sectors within the Wharfedale corridor of health, digital and professional services.

Retail

5.17.9 Ilkley is a popular retail and leisure destination, with its location close to the Yorkshire Dales National Park and attracts a high number of tourists to the centre. The retail provision in Ilkley is centred around the town centre. Brook Street accommodates the majority of national operators in Ilkley. The Tesco on Springs Lane, Booths supermarket on Lower Wellington Road and M&S Foodhall unit on Station Plaza are the anchor foodstores in the town centre, with additional provision at the Co-op Food store on Bolton Bridge Road. There is strong representation of high-quality independent retailers throughout the centre, with a concentration along the Victorian parade of shops at The Grove. The vacancy rate in Ilkley town centre is well below the UK average in terms of both the number of units and proportion of floorspace. Ilkley Town Centre also provides a strong and varied service and leisure offer that includes a theatre and events venue, a cinema, two gyms, a rock climbing facility, and a range of restaurants, cafés, bars and pubs

5.17.10 The Ilkley town centre is set out below in Figure 3 and has been subject to a review as part of the Retail and Leisure Study (2019). Key issues for Ilkley Town Centre are:

 The rural location means that car travel could be more preferential than other centres;

 the provision of parking is also an issue for the centre for private vehicles and coaches;

 The lack choice and range of convenience retailers in the centre

Figure 3: Ilkley Town Centre

5.17.11 Ilkley Town Centre is considered a strong and healthy town centre performing in accordance with its role as a market town and important service centre for the north of the District. It is an attractive centre, which benefits from a number of period and historic buildings, tree lined streets and landscaped public spaces. There is significant potential to attract further retail and leisure uses to the centre should suitable premises become available

Transport and Access

5.17.12 Ilkley is located along the A65, with Skipton located 15km to the north-west and Bradford city centre 22km to the south via the A6037/38. The main town centre car park is located on Cunliffe Road/South Hawksworth Street and accommodates approximately 200 car parking spaces. Given Ilkley's more rural location, car travel is higher to the centre than others, as indicated through the surveys. 17% of households have no car in Ilkley, compared with 29% across West Yorkshire. Ilkley has been the subject of a parking study and parking review to identify and solve long-standing issues with parking in the town.

5.17.13 Ilkley has a good provision of public transport facilities, with the train station on Railway Road and additional station at Ben Rhydding providing frequent services on the Wharfedale line to the nearby centres in Leeds and Bradford. A half-hourly service is available to Bradford Forster Square Retail Park station (via Shipley) and Leeds. In addition, bus services are available to the outlying areas, including Leeds, Harrogate, Skipton and York.

5.17.14 There are numerous footpaths and bridleways leading out of the settlement into the countryside and connecting with the wider public rights of way network. This includes the Dales Way long distance path. Proposals for the Wharfedale Greenway, which would link Ilkley with Burley, Addinghham and Otley with a traffic free route for safe walking and cycling, are supported in the plan which will seek to safeguard a route following further detailed feasibility work for when funding allows implementation.

5.17.15 Strategic transport infrastructure projects to be delivered within the plan period and protected routes are set out on the Policies Map with the local plan. Key initiatives within the Ilkley are detailed in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Ilkley Transport Projects

5.17.16 In relation to digital connectivity the average broadband download speed is 55.53Mbits/s which is higher than average the West Yorkshire average (44.57). There are no premises with broadband speeds below the Universal Service Obligation level.

Planning for Homes

5.17.17 There are 6,703 dwellings within the settlement area. A large proportion of these properties are owner occupied (78.9%) which is higher than both the West Yorkshire and England averages. Nearly 12.4% of properties are private rented. The proportion of social rented properties is much lower (6.4%) than the West Yorkshire average.

5.17.18 Ilkley has a varied mix of house types ranging from older terraced properties and cottages located around the historic core, (accounting for 24.3%), with more modern detached homes (26.3%) and semi-detached (23%) houses and flats (16.7%). Figure 4 below provides further information.

5.17.19 Average house prices in Ilkley are £411,353 which is far higher than the than the West Yorkshire average of £183,194. The total affordability ratio between house prices and annual earnings which is usually used as a proxy for number of years' worth of earnings required for a house deposit is 5.3 compared to a West Yorkshire average of 2.96. Affordability is therefore an issue for newly forming households wanting to live in the area.

Figure 4: Ilkley – Dwelling Type Breakdown

5.17.20 The delivery of new housing is a key part of the development strategy for Ilkley. It will ensure that the housing needs and aspirations of local people can be met, together with those of future residents, including the provision of market and importantly affordable housing. Ilkley has a strong local housing market, and further growth will support the economy and sustain the provision of services and facilities and Ilkley's role as a Principal Town.

5.17.21 Policy SP8 in the local plan sets out a minimum requirement of 300 dwellings to be delivered in Ilkley during the plan period. This requirement will be delivered through a mix of committed sites that are either under construction or which have planning permission but have not yet started, as well as sites to be allocated in the Local Plan. Table 1 below sets out the housing position for Ilkley, which also includes the application of non- implementation or discount rates for planning permissions and allocations.

Table 1: Ilkley - Summary of Housing Requirement and Supply

5.17.22 Once the commitments are discounted and removed from the supply, this leaves a residual allocation requirement of 280 units. The evaluated total site supply of housing units from the preferred allocation site equates to 314 units, which is in turn discounted by 10% for non-implementation or under delivery leaving a final allocation contribution of 283 units across all allocations, which is slightly above the remaining allocation requirement (283 units) but is reflective of site yields of the identified sites.

5.17.23 Ilkley is heavily constrained by Green Belt with very limited deliverable brownfield and non- Green Belt growth options within the settlement available or identified. In delivering the target for new homes in Ilkley it has been necessary to make some changes to the adopted green belt. Policy SP5 sets out the Council's approach and justification for Green Belt releases to accommodate new development and lists the sites proposed for allocation, which current lie within or partly within the green belt. One small mixed site (brownfield/greenfield) within the settlement, along with three Green Belt sites have been identified as the preferred housing options for Ilkley to meet the housing requirement. Further information on these proposed allocations is set out in Table A and are identified on the Policies Map and the Site Pro Formas below, together with the local strategies map for each plan area. The Council will also be supportive of additional proposals for new homes on additional small sites, particularly those that provide a redevelopment opportunity to bring forward land which has been previously used. Support will also be provided to developers who wish to redevelop larger sites and/or buildings for new homes not currently identified, subject to all relevant policies in the Local Plan

5.17.24 Development of housing site allocations should be in accordance with specified development guidelines and approximate site provision figures and all other relevant policies of this Local Plan.

Planning for Places and Communities

Green Belt, Natural Landscape and Historic Character

5.17.25 The Green Belt forms a tight boundary around the built-up area of Ilkley providing little room for growth and expansion. Ilkley is set within a scenic and sensitive natural landscape, with Ilkley Moor forming the town's backdrop to the south. The Gritstone moorland landscape is one of the area's outstanding features and this distinctive and sensitive landscape setting will be conserved and enhanced through the Plan. Ilkley falls within Natural England's Southern Pennines National Character Area and within Bradford Landscape Character Areas Rombalds Ridge and Wharfedale. To the south of Ilkley is Ilkley Moor, which falls within the Rombalds Ridge Landscape Character Area. The town lies within the Wharfedale Landscape Character Area which describes the land surrounding the settlement as being 'enclosed pasture', with 'floodplain pastures' restricted to a narrow area within the valley floor to the south of the river Wharfe and the wooded incline lies to the north of the river adjacent to Ilkley. The Rombalds landscape character area is very sensitive to change and the Wharfedale character area has moderate sensitivity.

5.17.26 Ilkley's heritage reflects that of a former Georgian spa town, set against the rural backdrop of the Wharfe Valley and surrounding moorland. The town is focussed around a historic core of traditional millstone grit buildings with most traffic passing through the town centre on the A65. Today, Ilkley has a busy centre and still retains its tourist identity. The settlement is fairly contained with distinctive boundaries and the area retains a semi-rural, leafy feel with a long established character with mature tree cover throughout the town and large private gardens of the many detached residences and villas contributing to this mature landscape.

5.17.27 Within the settlement area there are 75 statutory Listed Buildings and Ancient Monuments and a Historic Park and Garden (Heathcote Ilkley). It has, 11 Grade I listed buildings, 3 Grade II* and 61 Grade II listed buildings. The settlement also has three conservation areas (Ilkley, Ben Rhydding, Ilkley and Middleton) and 65 open space sites consisting of 107ha.

Green Infrastructure (GI), Ecology, Open Space and Flood Risk

517.28 Ilkley has a network of green spaces and green corridors, linking different areas of the town, open spaces and gardens within the town, and the town itself to the wider countryside. These mainly wooded corridors carry surface water from Ilkley Moor to the River Wharfe and are important for local wildlife and form part of the Wildlife habitat network. The River Wharfe forms an important blue/green corridor and habitat network running through the heart of the area with Middleton Woods to the North of the town another important green corridor. The main GI corridors are detailed below in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Green Infrastructure Corridors

5.17.29 The South Pennine Moors Special Protection Area (SPA) is located directly to the South of the settlement. The settlement lies within 2500m of the SPA with areas to the south of the town which border with Ilkley Moor within 400m of the SPA. There are a number of important wildlife sites and priority habitats in and around Ilkley, which include the designation of the River Wharfe as a site of wildlife importance and part of the local habitat network with areas to the North and West of the town part of the woodland and grassland Local Wildlife Network. Sites of ecological significance around Ilkley include Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits (Local Nature Reserve)and Middleton Woods Local Wildlife Sites.

5.17.30 There are a wide range of number of open spaces and recreations sites within the Ilkley settlement area. In regards to formal open space the settlement area of Ilkley has 65 sitesidentified as open space covering an area of 107.57ha. There are a number of key siteswithin the Ilkley settlement area including:

• Riverside Gardens/Ilkley
• Park
• Middleton Sports
• Ground/East Holme Fields
• Ilkley Cricket Club
• Olicanian Cricket Club
• Ilkley Lido
• Ilkley Cemetery
• West View Park
• Ilkley Lawn Tennis and
• Squash Club
• Dansk Way Allotments
• Ben Rhydding Golf Club
• Ben Rhydding Sports Club

5.17.31 There are good levels of provision of open space provision generally, in particular for outdoor sports, natural and semi-natural greenspace, green and blue corridors, cemeteries and civic space within the settlement. There are however notable deficits in amenity greenspace, open land in settlements, parks and gardens and provision for children. Ilkley is surrounded by open countryside and has a good level of Natural and Semi-natural Greenspace within the settlement area which may partly compensate for the lack of amenity greenspace and open land in settlements. With regard to distribution there is a reasonably good spread of sites throughout Ilkley, however there are here are also two key residential areas with low levels of provision, particularly to the west and south east. The town would benefit from additional park and play area provision either to the west or east of the existing settlement where access is poorer. Figure 6 illustrates the location and type of open space across the settlement.

Figure 6: Ilkley Open Space Overview

5.17.32 Incidents of fluvial flooding and flood risk are mainly associated with the River Wharfe and Beck's/tributaries running through the settlement. There are areas of higher flood risk within and around the settlement mainly around the River Wharfe along the valley floor with large areas of functional flood plain and Flood Zones 2 and 3. There are numerous smaller streams and becks descending from the moors that can be a source of flood risk in extreme rainfall events. Tributaries of the River Wharfe within the area include Backstone Beck. A Natural Floodplain Management (FNM) project on Backstone Beck in Ilkley began 2019 led by the Environment Agency and in conjunction with Bradford Council.

Community Infrastructure – Education, Health and Utilities

5.17.33 Ilkley has a local civic role which provides a range of services and facilities for its population; these include a health centre on Alexandra Road, GP surgery, a library, two post offices, two community centres, a town hall and an outdoor swimming pool (Lido).

5.17.34 In regards to Education, Ilkley has 4 primary schools and 1 secondary school which serve the local catchment area including the surrounding towns and villages; these include: All Saints CE Primary, Ashlands Primary, Ben Rhydding Primary. The Sacred Heart Catholic Primary and Ilkley Grammar School Secondary school. Pupils attainment levels at Key Stage 1, 2, 3, 4 is above the West Yorkshire and national (England) average scores.

5.17.35 Ilkley has a number of NHS registered healthcare facilities within the area. Secondary (acute) healthcare is provided at Bradford Royal Infirmary and Wharfedale Hospital in Otley in the Leeds District around 7km to the East.

5.17.36 Average life expectancy at birth for Ilkley residents is higher than the West Yorkshire and England average, with healthy life expectancy of 71 years for men and women which is significantly higher than the West Yorkshire and national average. Figure 7 shows the location of local schools and medical facilities.

Figure 7: Schools & Medical Facilities in Ilkley

5.17.37 When planning for the long-term development, it is vital that new development is supported by the appropriate infrastructure. The capacity, quality and accessibility of services and facilities are all key components in ensuring people can enjoy living, working and visiting the area. The Council will continue work with key infrastructure providers and others including the Local Education Authority, Clinical Commissioning Group and utilities providers to determine the impacts of future growth and development on local infrastructure capacity and provision. Further infrastructure details will be published through the Local Infrastructure Plan and as part of the Regulation 19 stage of the local plan.

(263) Consultation Question 120

Preferred Site Allocations and Site Pro Formas

5.17.38 The preferred housing site allocations are detailed below in Table A. This table is subsequently followed by site pro formas for each preferred site allocation providing a summary of key site information and characteristics.

Table A: Housing - Preferred Allocations

(145) Consultation Question 121