Menston Parish Council

In the early part of the twentieth century the village was part of the Wharfedale Rural District Council and Burley had its own District Council when, in 1929, the Local Government Act required County Councils to review their districts to form local government areas of more viable size. Menston had already indicated that it did not wish to combine with Otley in an enlarged Wharfedale Urban District Council and in 1930 Burley and Menston began to discuss possible amalgamation into a single District Council.

Press reports of the meetings described Menston as the 'jewel in the crown' no doubt referring to the relative wealth of the village and its rateable value. In 1937, after several years of wrangling central government decreed a scheme for local government that established llkIey Urban District, which included llkley, Burley and the greater part of Menston but not including High Royds.

The Local Government Act 1972, which came into being in 1974, abolished the Urban Districts in Wharfedale and established the Metropolitan District of Leeds, which included Otley, and the Metropolitan District of Bradford, which included the IlkIey Urban District. Exceptionally, llkley Urban District area was permitted to have Parish Council status and in this way Burley and Menston became parts of llkley Parish Council. However, it was not always easy for the three communities to form an identity as one Parish council. In 2004 as a consequence of central government's encouragement to devolve decision making, there were moves to form three independent Parish Councils for Ilkley, Burley and Menston. An order by the Secretary of State for Local Government to create Menston Parish Council was made on 24th February 2006, and the first election to this Council was made in May of that year.