THE chairman of a Keighley Town Council committee has said "all options" are on the table to try and find a way forward for the council's troubled civic centre.

Councillor Michael Westerman, who heads the civic centre strategy committee, said members of the public will have a chance to give their views on what should be done with the landmark building in North Street.

And he had tough words for those committee members who have missed its meetings since the body was formed earlier this year, in response to a damning independent audit report.

"They have been elected or co-opted to be councillors, but if they don't turn up to meetings they are not representing anybody but themselves," he warned. "They are letting the people of Keighley down.

"It's important councillors attend, and I'm disappointed some of them have missed meetings."

Cllr Westerman said potential solutions included selling the civic centre building, re-establishing a police presence in part of it, re-opening its closed facilities to bring in revenue or applying to the Government to have the debt incurred by the council when it took over the building reduced or "extinguished".

He added: "All possibilities are being looked at but we've got to go for the best value for money for the public.

"As long as the civic centre is closed it's not making money, and if we do sell it then it will be another empty property in the town centre.

"I'm hoping to speak to the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner about getting a police presence inside the civic centre because if we manage that it would kill two birds with one stone."

He said a public consultation document allowing parishioners to express their opinions on what path to take should be drawn up by Christmas.

Cllr Westerman said the suggestion to apply to the Secretary of State to have the council's debt extinguished or reduced was made by Ingrow resident Elizabeth Mitchell, of the Cavetown Council parishioner's campaign group.

He asked why Keighley MP Kris Hopkins, who has been sharply critical of the town council's spending, had not recommended the idea himself.

"It shouldn't have had to come from a member of the public," he said. "Mr Hopkins is a junior minister, so he should have known about this."

But Mr Hopkins responded: “The taxpayer is not there to write blank cheques for local authorities who make spending decisions with money they don’t have.

"I’m afraid Cllr Westerman’s finger-pointing, 'not me guv' approach is an unfortunate reminder of what got Keighley Town Council into its financial mess in the first place.”

The civic centre opened in 2012, but has been the subject of controversy since it was revealed to be losing money.

Town councillors had bought and converted the building using two loans totalling £1.1 million to be paid back over 50 years.

They closed the property's police and forensic science museum, shop, cafe and bar after doubts surfaced about whether they had a legal right to trade in the building.

l See page six for a report about the police investigation into the town council's financial affairs