The Oxenhope Village Design Statement was considered and accepted by Keighley's town and country planning sub-committee last Thursday.

It is to be a model for future plans in communities throughout the district.

Supplementary Planning Guidance - drawn up by planning officers to help them with planning applications, listed buildings and conservation sites - is to be based on the recommendations in the Statement to ensure the character of the village is retained.

Other recommendations included deletions and additions to the three existing conservation areas surrounding the village - Uppertown, Lowertown and Leeming - as well as the designation of an extra conservation area centred on Oxenhope station.

The cricket field in Uppertown is to be an additional area within the conservation site.

Cragg Royd and Fern Hill are to be included in the Lowertown conservation area. Phase one of the Waterside development is to be added to the new Oxenhope station conservation area, but the central portion of this site is to be deleted from the Lowertown conservation area.

In Leeming, the reservoir is to be included as a site in the conservation area.

Joint co-ordinator of the Design Statement, Derek Allen said: "Our group considered it very important for local people to influence local development.

"We feel that the grass roots involvement can be a tremendous benefit to planning officers, but we recognise that the expertise of planners is essential in this."

Craven councillor Eileen McNally said: "I think initiatives like this are splendid and they really do involve all people."

Speaking on behalf of the Countryside Commission - which set up the national initiative in response to development pressures facing rural communities - was senior officer Mike Feist.

He explained: "After a recent visit to Oxenhope, we were very impressed by what had been done and the relationship built up between the members of the team and Bradford council."

John Harding, vice chairman of Oxenhope parish council, said: "It's the members of this village who will have done this work. It shows the breadth of their commitment, interest and involvement."

Craven Conservative councillor Eric Dawson agreed: "I only wish this document could be written on tablets of stone."

Oxenhope villagers produced the 22-page Statement as a way of defining the particular character of the village, which they want planners and developers to take into account before any new structures are put up.

It took nearly two years to complete with the help of Bradford council and financial backing from the Countryside Commission.

The only area of contention brought up in the meeting was the proposed UDP housing development at Leeming field, situated between Oxenhope and Leeming. One member of the public at the meeting pointed out the dangers of lorries coming down the road with children playing there and the number of accidents in recent years.

Chairman John Cope replied: "It would be naive to think that there will never be areas of dispute. Working in partnership is the way forward because this will allow us to do things better in the future."

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Allen said: "I was quite encouraged by the response of the councillors and the positive attitude of the officers.

"They obviously aren't going to just put it on the shelf. It's now up to the planning officers to implement these recommendations."

* A Village Design Statement is a Countryside Commission initiative dating from 1996 and supported and endorsed by the then Secretary of State for the Environment.

The objectives are to describe the distinctive character of a village and surrounding countryside, and also show its character through it's landscape setting, the shape of the settlement and the nature of the buildings, and then draw up design principles working in partnership with the local planning authority. Villagers were kept informed through leaflets, posters, press features and a magazine delivered to every household.

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