Bradford Council has made great strides in recognising the needs of rural communities like Oxenhope, according to the city's senior policy officer for rural affairs.

Dave Melling, a guest speaker at last Thursday's parish council meeting, told members that until about 2001 the district council had tended to emphasise urban issues at the expense of the countryside.

"This has changed since then and the council is trying to get its staff to think rural," he said.

"Two thirds of Bradford district is rural and this area has a population of about 80,000 people."

He said the council had focused on how to improve rural transport links and helped parish councils develop their own strategic plans.

He said parish councils played a vital role in informing Bradford of what improvements were required at a grassroots level.

Acting parish council chairman Councillor Tony Maw said he welcomed the district council's commitment.

He said: "As a smaller community we do need to be able to sometimes pool our resources. One of my concerns is that people assume Oxenhope is quite a wealthy community but it still has a lot of people who've lived here for many years struggling with the lack of affordable housing.

"We also need more help with youth services as, like most other places, we do have issues with some young people causing anti-social behaviour."

He added: "Parks and recreation is another area. The Rose Garden - which is really our only park - hasn't had very much attention for a number of years."

Cllr David Ashcroft said the parish council's beacon status needed to be meaningful.

He said it should mean the parish knows it is being listened to by Bradford and makes a difference whenever it voices its opinion.