A Rawdon school seeking to move to a new site is holding out an olive branch to those who fiercely opposed the move.

Rawdon Littlemoor School finally received outline permission to press ahead with a controversial move to council land off New Road Side last month.

But while that unanimous decision delighted many people connected with the school, it also dismayed a large number of residents, represented by Rawdon Residents Against School Plans (RRASP).

School governor Cyril Snell, however, says he now hopes everyone can play a constructive role in taking the PFI (Private Finance Initiative) project forward.

He said: "We actually believe that most of the community are on our side, as was demonstrated by the large petition which was collected in support of the move.

"But we're keen now to build bridges with those hurt by the decision and would like them to come on board."

Mr Snell added that contractors bidding for the work were now starting to submit their proposals and that a private presentation would be made to the school's governors in a week's time.

He says he expects the contracts to be awarded before Christmas, with the final, detailed planning application following in the early Spring.

That is presuming that the Deputy Prime Minister's office backs Leeds Council's decision, but Mr Snell says he doesn't anticipate any problems.

"It is possible for the Deputy Prime Minister to reject the outline application," he said. "But I think the unanimous decision of the planning panel makes that very unlikely.

"The proposals would have to cause a 'substantial community disadvantage' before he could overturn the recommendation.

"My own view is that it would be impossible to demonstrate that there would be anything but a community benefit from it."

That opinion looks set to be strongly contested by RRASP, however, who fought the plans on two main grounds - that they would lead to serious road safety problems and the loss of green space.