Armley Conservative Club, Leeds

Planning application to demolish the former Conservative Club in Armley:

Following a suspected arson attack, the Conservative Club and Fairfield House on Armley Moor are subject to a demolition application.

The buildings are in the conservation area, however recommendations from the police to clear them will bolster the applicant’s case to depart from policy and allow this site to be flattened.

I can not find any images of the fire damage, and am unable to visit Leeds, but it is odd to receive input from the emergency services on a planning application.

The loss of Conservative Clubs have been noted in the media. Few remain in the red wall that is the northern industrial belt of towns and cities. But they are an important feature of any place, invoking a time of more cordial politics, in which people of any stripe were welcome through the doors of any given club to engage in discourse. Latterly, these clubs have lost their political cache and function more as community venues and a means of obtaining a cheap pint. Drinkers in Con/Lib/Lab clubs are refreshingly apolitical these days.

The townscape of Armley will miss these buildings, and the story of civic participation they tell.