THE battle to preserve Wesley Guild in Pennington continues next week with a public meeting.

Members of Wesley Guild Preservation Group are hoping for a large turnout at Leigh Cricket Club next Thursday (7.30pm) to update local people on the fight to save the historic site and have it legally declared a village green.

And the importance of the site has been given considerable backing from a 120-page report prepared by researchers from Salford University.

They say: "In an urban area such as Leigh, and Pennington itself, sites such as the Wesley Guild are an asset irrespective of the other provision of areas of open space in the town."

The Group also claim that a council Unitary Development Plan which was published in January and claimed it is important to safeguard sites of nature conservation and wildlife interest, is also significant since the university report added that Wesley Guild was "an ideal urban site with potential for nature conservation."

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