SKIPTON Town Council is to move back into its "spiritual home" in the town hall.

More than 20 years after it moved out of Skipton Town Hall and three years after it started making plans to return, it is poised to move back by March at the latest.

All but one councillor voted to go ahead and sign the lease with owner Craven District Council at last week's full council meeting, although there was some criticism of last-minute hold-ups, including a disagreement about evening access.

Cllr Paul Whitaker said he was against the move from the current offices – above Barclays Bank in the High Street – because he remained unconvinced they could afford it.

But council leader, Cllr Chris Harbron, said after 20 years away, the town council was returning to its "spiritual home".

Cllr Robert Heseltine also warmly welcomed the move, although he was critical of the length of time it had taken for problems with the lease arrangements to be ironed out.

"This will be a return to our ancestral home, which I support, although we would have thought it would have been straight forward dealing with our sister authority," he said.

The council first met in the town hall in 1974, when it was a parish council and when first resolutions included the allowing of councillors to smoke.

It moved to the old town hall in Sheep Street in 1993 before going to offices above Barclays Bank in High Street.

After the meeting, Cllr Harbron added: “I am absolutely delighted we are making the move back to the town hall. It makes perfect sense for the town council to be based there.

“During the past few years, the council has taken on a number of new responsibilities, and our existing offices are cramped and no longer fit for purpose. This will give it a high profile position in a building that, with the other plans for the town hall, will undoubtedly become a community focal point."

Cllr Simon Myers, Craven District Council’s lead member for the town hall, said the signing of the lease was good news.

He added: “We have put significant investment into the town hall and have exciting plans for its future, and this is an important step along the way as we transform the building into a sustainable and vibrant community venue.

“Our vision is to have a number of high quality tenants in the town hall to secure its financial viability for the future.”

The town council is the first tenant in the hall following the completion of the first phase of refurbishment. Other tenants are believed to be close to completing deals to take up other space in the listed building.

The town council will occupy the whole of the first floor, including use of the original council chamber for its meetings. It will also once again be using the original back office it occupied in the 1970s following local government reorganisation.

The move will allow the town council to share resources with other partner organisations, including Skipton Town Partnership.

It plans to start moving in after Christmas and New Year and to be fully settled by March next year.