Historic Woodlesford to get conservation stamp

12.00.00am GMT Tue 2nd Feb 2010

The working class heritage of the south Leeds village of Woodlesford could be protected by a conservation area following consultation with residents and councillors.

A review of the conservation areas in nearby Rothwell and Oulton is now taking place with consultation running until 5th March. During the Oulton review it became clear that there are places of special architectural and historic interest in neighbouring Woodlesford which also need to be preserved.

The idea of having an expanded 'Oulton with Woodlesford' conservation area was considered by local volunteers currently putting together a Design Statement for the two villages but it has now been agreed that Woodlesford should be considered for a conservation area in its own right.

The two areas may have merged together over the years but have very different characters, Oulton defined by its agricultural past and Woodlesford which still has areas of architectural and historic interest remaining from its industrial legacy.

The designation and appraisal of a new Woodlesford conservation area will take place this year at a cost of £5,000. This will be paid for by the south outer area committee's well-being budget.

Cllr Stewart, Golton (Lib Dem , Rothwell) said: "We wanted to protect what is best in the communities of Oulton and Woodlesford and supported the proposal put forward by local residents to have a design statement for the whole area. To help those volunteers we have also made sure that the conservation area was re-appraised to add value to the report that was to be produced by the community.

"Within that we asked the conservation officers to look at Woodlesford as we felt there are some important parts of the area which deserve the same protection as parts of Oulton The conclusion that came forward was that Woodlesford deserved a conservation area of its own. We wanted to make sure that should the people of Woodlesford want the same protection as their neighbours in Oulton and Rothwell there would be sufficient money available to support this."