Town host council talk

From the archive, first published Wednesday 18th Apr 2007.

Keighley has played host to a conference designed to address the concerns of the larger town and parish councils in England and Wales.

A delegation from the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) met in the town hall and were taken on a tour of Keighley district.

Keighley Town Council clerk, Miggy Bailey, said this was the first time the town had hosted the NALC's Larger Local Councils Committee.

"We were very privileged to have them," she said.

"As they actually came to us instead of just staying in London it was a good networking opportunity.

"We're finding that there's a big gap developing between smaller parish councils and bodies such as ours."

The NALC was set up to liaise with the Government on behalf of about 10,000 town and parish councils in England and Wales.

The 19 delegates who were visiting Keighley yesterday were given a tour of the district on board a London double decker bus, supplied by the town's bus museum.

During the journey, Keighley Mayor Councillor Graham Mitchell pointed out attractions such as East Riddlesden Hall and Cliffe Castle.