By George Jenkins
Welcome to the jungle! Visitors to Pudsey Park are greatly in favour of transforming two disused buildings into a tropical-themed visitor attraction.
As WLD revealed on Sunday, proposals by Jungle Box Ltd would see the disused visitor glasshouse at Pudsey Park transformed into a cafe and “jungle classroom”, alongside bringing the West Leeds Country Park Visitors’ Centre back into use.
Visitors to the park have today given the proposals their seal of approval.
Carol Caywood, who lives in the lodge at Pudsey Park, supported the plans. She said: “All of this is on my doorstep, and at the moment, it’s just in disrepair, it’s falling to bits, and there’s nothing going on inside, and no one is looking after it.”
Steve Dennison, a local resident, added: “I use the park a few times every day, and I’d like to see these changes made straight away, it would definitely bring the community together.
“It was fantastic before they closed; it had a toilet for public use and a classroom for children where they could draw, see animals, it was excellent.”
Since the visitor centre closed in 2020, Pudsey Park has been without publicly accessible toilets, which has been a concern for regular park users.
Rachel Dean said: “Toilets would be a big boost for the park, as there are a lot of people who visit, and the only toilets nearby are at the leisure centre, which is quite out of the way.
“I think it’s nice that they want to do something with it, especially after all these years. I’ve grown up in Pudsey, so it would be good for them to put some life into it after it’s been derelict for so many years.”
Sue Dickinson, another resident, added: “Something definitely needs doing, and I think this is a good idea, especially for the kids with the jungle classroom.”
The plans are currently at the consultation stage, and a decision is expected by Monday, 23 March. The full planning application can be found here.
The two attractions were closed in 2020 due to the pandemic and budget cuts and have not reopened since.
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