AN ANGRY councillor claims that administrative decisions by Bradford Council have threatened his ability to properly represent the interests of his Silsden, Steeton, Addingham and Eastburn constituents.

Cllr Adrian Naylor says date clashes last week forced him to choose between attending a vital planning inquiry or two of the most important events of the civic calendar.

The inquiry - which started last Tuesday - will decide how many new houses should be built in each village, with a government inspector assessing proposed changes to Bradford Council’s Core Strategy.

Under the latest version of the draft strategy, Silsden new has been earmarked for 1,200 homes, an increase on the previous target of 1,000.

Cllr Naylor, both a Bradford district and Silsden town councillor, said the inquiry’s opening day was timetabled at the same time as the council’s annual meeting and ceremony to appoint the new Lord Mayor.

He said: “Apart from the budget these are the most important council meetings of the year, but this is the most important public inquiry for many years in Bradford district.”

Cllr Naylor said the council had received many responses to its draft Core Strategy during the public consultation, but the council’s subsequent responses to these consultees were not emailed out until Sunday evening.

He added “It’s very difficult to represent people when information comes so late in the day. Bradford had these comments for quite some time.”

A Bradford Council spokesman said: “All communities have had adequate opportunities to articulate their comments on the modifications to the Core Strategy.

“The public hearings were planned around a number of requirements including inspector availability and the pre-election periods for the local elections and the EU referendum.”