Woodhouse Moor Online

On the 11th September, Lib Dem leader of the council Richard Brett, had a letter in the Yorkshire Evening Post on the barbeque proposal. In it, he justified the Executive Board’s decision to proceed with the scheme on the grounds that a park should be for all to use, and that Woodhouse Moor should be treated no differently to parks at Otley and Wetherby which already have barbeque areas; and he pledged that he’ll “go back to the drawing board” if the barbeque area is a failure.

The five local community associations responded to Councillor Brett on the 18th September by pointing out that the Executive Board’s decision favours one group of people at the expense of several others, in particular, those with breathing disorders, and that the only measure that will deal with anti-social behaviour, is enforcement of the byelaws.

There was then a letter from Headingley resident Tony Green on the 24th September which made clear to Councillor Brett that the parks at Otley and Wetherby are not comparable to Woodhouse Moor, and that there has already been an unsuccessful trial barbeque area in 2006. Tony asked Councillor Brett why he doesn’t simply follow the example of Lambeth and save us all a lot of money.

Next came a letter on the 26th September from North Hyde Park resident Ann Massa who said that she is surprised that Councillor Brett should present a return to the drawing board as a concession, as it’s no more than what one would expect to happen when a scheme fails.  Ann also questioned the validity of treating the Moor in the same way as Otley Chevin and the park at Wetherby.

(photo courtesy of Yorkshire Post Newspapers)

This is what Councillor Mick Lyons (Labour) said to Councillor John Procter (Conservative) at the Scrutiny Board meeting that took place on the 16th September (Councillor Procter is the councillor with responsibility for Parks and Countryside) :

For many years I lived within walking distance of this park and considered it to be a lung in a densely populated area. When I went there, there were no barbeques. We’d picnics. John says about Wetherby and Otley. But they’re not in the centre. Woodhouse Moor is in an inner city neighbourhood. Why weren’t the byelaws used when complaints started in which case this problem would have been dealt with. Why will it work when people who live there say it won’t work. And why should students stop other people from using the park ? Will there be designated barbeque areas all over the city ? We’ve a beautiful park at Temple Newsam and I don’t want it spoilt by barbeques. I don’t want kids coughing and spluttering. If this is a trial, is it going to happen all over ? If they couldn’t prevent it before – how will they now when they’ve less money ? Will they take resources from other areas, other parks ? Are we going to have them elsewhere, and how are we going to police them ? And where’s the money coming from ?

If we’re talking about putting a designated area in one park, the fear is that one will also be put at Roundhay, Morley and Temple Newsam. They’ll say what’s good enough at Woodhouse is good enough for the rest of the city. If it goes forward here, it leaves it wide open.

On the 21st August, the Yorkshire Evening Post published the following last minute plea from local community associations for the council to abandon its plan to create a barbeque area on Woodhouse Moor :

It is now over 5 months since Leeds City Council launched its plan to concrete part of Woodhouse Moor to create a barbeque area. This would install 40 large concrete blocks in the Moor at a cost of £20,000 and scrap the byelaw banning fires in a section of the park right next to the children’s playground and nearest people’s homes.

We are grateful to the YEP for its fair and balanced airing of the issues. However we now understand that the Council is about to announce its decision. We understand many YEP readers must wonder what all the fuss is about.

It’s very simple really. We love our park.

Woodhouse Moor, the city’s first public park, is a gift that one generation passes onto another. As the community most deprived of greenspace in Leeds we need a way to share this space with everyone. The Moor should be safe for dog walkers, joggers, picnickers, allotment holders, team sports, wildlife and young mums with a push-chair. It should not be an area where the selfish minority hold sway.

The scale of the vandalism we have witnessed both this summer and last is ruining the park for everyone. The litter, destroyed benches and picnic tables, bonfires, branch ripping, allotment raiding, drug taking, smashed glass, burned metal, noise, graffiti and tons and tons of dumped rubbish are not sustainable.

We have no confidence in the Council’s consultation exercise which has been a farce and fraud from the beginning.

We therefore ask the Council at the eleventh hour to safeguard this green treasure for all and not to appease vandalism with £20,000 of concrete and a turned blind eye.

As we now know, the community’s plea fell on deaf ears. I suppose it was too much to hope that the council would drop the plan now after going to the trouble of (1) excluding the community from the multi-agency meeting that gave rise to the plan, (2) changing the city’s byelaws to make barbeque areas possible, and (3) organising a biased consultation – all apparently so the plan could go ahead.

When the full council met this afternoon, Councillor Bernard Atha gave the following address setting out his views on the council’s plan to establish a designated barbeque area on Woodhouse Moor :

There is immense opposition from the local community to barbeques on Woodhouse Moor.  This is the fourth major attack on the Moor by the Lib Dems.  When they first came into power, they tried to turn part of Woodhouse Moor into a car park for the university.  Then they wanted to make a large part of it into soccer pitches for the university.  Then they were wanting to widen the A660 at the point where it crosses the Moor, the widest stretch of the road between the city centre and West Park. The fourth major attack is barbeques.  It’s important to protect the Moor, and so let’s not allow them to take away a piece of the park like a burglar.

They say they’re allowing just one area for barbeques. But this will have no effect unless it’s policed. If they can’t police the existing byelaw banning barbeques, how will they do it when it’s restricted to a small area ?  We’re told it’s not going to be concrete.  Have they found grass that doesn’t burn ?  Where is it going to be ?  How will it be demarcated ?

The police have said that they’ll cooperate if we enforce the bylaws. Well then, let’s enforce the byelaws.  Only a handful of prosecutions in the courts would be necessary .

Woodhouse Moor is valuable.  It’s sacred to some people.  Let’s do away with barbeques on it, enforce the byelaws and it will all be sorted out by next year.