A NEW town councillor will be battling to get developers to contribute to making Skipton a better place to travel by foot and cycle.

Independent candidate Tony Barrett took the North ward in a Skipton Town Council by-election last Thursday. He will serve until 2019.

Councillor Barrett believes house builders who have been benefitting from a boom in construction in Skipton for some years, should be obliged to “give something back” to the town.

“With the town known as one of the best places to live in the county, house builders have been able to sell property at a premium,” he said.

“There’s just not enough pressure put on them to give something back especially in relation to the town’s infra-structure.

“We’ll be needing more schools to accommodate an increase in children and builders could help in financing safer routes into town.

“As an example there are plans for houses at the end of Greenacres. I’d like to see house builders contributing to a safer footpath and cycle way from there into town.”

He accepted that the town council did not have the power of Craven district council but he believed it could act as a strong lobbying group highlighting issues such as litter and dog fouling in a bid to see those and similar issues get a higher profile.

One of the major issues he picked up in canvassing was people’s concern over potholes in roads and along footpaths and highlighted Brewery Lane as an example.

The canal towpath was a safer alternative for pedestrians and should be improved, he said.

Councillor Barrett, who thanked voters for their support, polled a comfortable 333 votes beating his nearest rival, Tory Susan Broadhead, by 89 votes and retaining the seat for the Independent group.

He is already active in the community, at present being chairman of governors at Ermysted’s Grammar School.

He has served as President of Skipton Chamber of Trade and a Board member of Skipton Business Improvement District (BID)

Labour came in third with Virpi Kettu notching up 195 votes with Green Party’s Clare Nash polling 156.

The election followed the resignation of former town councillor Calvin Dow. The turn out was 32 percent and there were three rejected papers.