Bradford Council's handling of the annual Summer problems at Ilkley's riverside area has been described as a "shambles".
During a meeting of Bradford Council this week Ilkley Councillors said proposals to tackle problems like drug taking, littering and tombstoning off the bridge had repeatedly failed.
In warm weather hundreds of people descend to the riverside area. In recent years there have been complaints of drug abuse and anti-social behaviour in the area – with the beauty spot left strewn with litter and drug paraphernalia after crowds leave.
Most recently Bradford Council has introduced a Public Space Protection Order – which would give police and Council wardens more power to crack down on bad behaviour in the area.
And an application to increase the size of the fence on the suspension bridge was proposed by the Council, but in August the plan was withdrawn after numerous objections, including some from Council officers.
The issue of anti-social behaviour was raised as a motion at Tuesday’s meeting by Andrew Loy, Conservative district councillor for Ilkley.
He said the existing rules were not adequately enforced, and called for the Council to “commit sufficient resources to provide additional PSPO wardens and litter picking.”
At the meeting he said: “Ilkley featured in the Times twice last year. In April it was featured as the best place to live in the UK.
“Then in August during the heatwave it ran a photo of young people climbing over the fence on the bridge.”
He said Ilkley residents paid high amounts of Council Tax, and were “frustrated” with the lack of support from the Council in policing and cleaning up the site.
He urged the Council to fund more officers and litter pickers in the area, adding: “Unacceptable behaviour needs to be tackled. I’m afraid the riverside has become a no-go area for many residents.”
The Labour group put forward a separate motion, highlighting work that had been done to tackle the situation. It added: “The challenges faced in Ilkley is a classic example of how councils should have more funding to support our local communities. A decade of government cuts has left the council with over £300m less to spend every year to fund services across the district at a time when demands have increased, and antisocial behaviour needs to be tackled everywhere it appears.”
Another Conservative district councillor for Ilkley, Kyle Green, added: “Every year we have the same issue. We start the year asking how the Council can help us over the Summer, and we end the year asking the same question.
“Nothing ever changes because nothing is resourced properly. It has been a shambles for years.
“The Council put in an application for new railings on the bridge, and its own officers didn’t support it. The Council always has plans without any ability to follow through on it.”
Councillor Abdul Jabar, executive member for community safety, said the Council’s Keighley Area Committee, which includes some Ilkley Councillors, had the power to allocate more resources to the issue.
Cllr Loy’s motion failed, with the Labour amendment voted for by the majority of Councillors.
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