PEOPLE with an interest in protecting the unique character of the Pateley Bridge area of the Yorkshire Dales will be attending a workshop tomorrow (11 July), in which they will start an appraisal of the Conservation Area.

The Harrogate District is rightly proud of its natural and built heritage and preserving it depends on additional controls in Conservation Areas to help protect these important elements.

We are keen to involve local people, whether they have a business or a home in the area

Don Mackenzie - Harrogate Borough Council

It is 37 years practically to the day since the former West Riding County Council formally adopted the Conservation Area for Pateley Bridge on 15 July 1970.

The Conservation Areas in the Harrogate district were last reviewed over ten years ago and, at that time, the protected area for Pateley Bridge was extended to include part of Old Church Road, part of Ripon Road and part of the bank on the south west of the River Nidd.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, Cabinet Member for Planning and Transport, says the time is right to evaluate the special interest of the Conservation Area and to understand how the local community values the special qualities of Pateley Bridge.

"We are keen to involve local people, whether they have a business or a home in the area. There have, of course, been changes to Pateley Bridge in the last ten years but in the main they have had little impact on the character of the area.

"This appraisal process should lead to a better understanding of the development of the area and what makes Pateley what it is today and so provide the basis for the positive management of the conservation area for the future."

The workshop will be held from 6.00 pm in the Memorial Hall and following an introduction by the council's conservation team at 6pm there will be a group walk around the town at 6.30 pm, returning to the Hall at 7.30 pm for the workshop.

The findings of the workshop will help in preparing a draft document for formal public consultation and, following this, a final version will be used to assist in the planning of the area.