BATTLING residents look to have secured the future of a small woodland in Guiseley - after enlisting the help of their MP.

The woodland, known as The Coppice, behind Chevin Court - the Greenwoods housing development site at White Cross - could be properly managed and include a new footpath connecting Ings Lane to Oxford Road.

It could also become a place where schoolchildren from the area went for part of their studies.

Nearby residents won their battle to preserve The Coppice - which has never been formally named and does not appear on any map - from being built on after developer, Barratt Leeds, reduced its original scheme from 94 homes to just 62. That scheme has now been approved by the council.

And in a meeting last week, organised by Aireborough MP Paul Truswell and attended by Barratts, Leeds planning officers and residents, it was agreed to look into the future management of the site.

The meeting heard that Barratts could sign an agreement with the council to ensure that the woodland is properly managed and maintained.

If everything goes to plan, the management will eventually be taken over by Greenbelt UK which will remove undergrowth and carrying out planting. A path could also be built linking existing footpaths and the new estate with Ings Lane.

Mr Truswell said: "It is fair to say that one or two people had anxieties about improving public access to the site, but there was general agreement that people were going to use it one way or another, and that effective and sensitive environmental management was the key.

"We sought assurances about Greenbelt UK and understand that they have established a good track record in the city over the last five years. Everyone present urged the need to maintain contact with local people, so that there is a feeling of ownership of the woodland and its value as an open space and wildlife habitat."

Graham Hoult, vice chairman of the Guiseley and Menston Green belt Action Group (GAMGAG) said: "I was personally reassured that the best interests of the coppice have been saved and that it will be properly managed."

A spokesman for Barratt Leeds said: "A number of issues were positively discussed and these are being processed accordingly by the respective parties."

A spokesman for Leeds City Council said: "We are currently considering the details of provision of green space and a number of other issues related to the conditions of the approval of planning permission for this development. We will be considering the matters which were raised at this meeting including highway safety and ecological issues. "