A LOCAL councillor has hit back at claims that Keighley, Silsden, and the Worth Valley could lose millions of pounds due to changes in planning rules.

Cllr Adrian Naylor, who represents Craven Ward on Bradford Council, insists the changes will not leave the district out of pocket when new houses are built.

He said the council would still have the right to demand money from developers for improvements to local schools, roads and parks.

Cllr Naylor, an Independent, stepped into a row between Conservative and Labour politicians over a new method for making housing developers contribute cash to meet increased demand on local services.

Under Government changes, the long-established Section 106 system – which brought £9.1 million to the district in 2013/14 – will be scaled back in favour of a similar arrangement called the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).

The Conservative group warned that the district would not be able to claim the CIL for at least the next two years because it does not yet have a Local Plan in place, which specifies where development is allowed.

The council’s ruling Labour group responded that many delays to the Local Plan had been caused by the Conservatives when they were in power, and said the council would still be able to claim some money from developers.

Cllr Naylor, who is also a Silsden Town town councillor, admitted there were complex issues regarding how the new CIL would work.

But he said the council would still be able to claim money from developers, by imposing a cost per square metre of housing.

He said: “If Bradford choose to apply just one rate there may be some areas of Bradford too expensive to build on. Or in some areas the rate could be zero and in others it could be designed to compensate.”