Woodhouse Moor Online

There was an article in today’s Guardian about how Belgium is switching off lights along roads. The article states:

“Although lighting increases people’s feeling of safety and willingness to walk in public spaces at night, it does not always mean they are actually safer. One study into the effects of reduced street lighting in England and Wales found that it was not associated with significant changes in crime or with the number of road collisions. Other reviews have found inconclusive evidence that lighting reduces crime, and indeed data on it reducing road collisions also paints a mixed picture.”

and

“Findings of the negative effects of light pollution on nature, as well as human and plant health, are unequivocal. Experts argue that light pollution should be treated as a pressure on nature that is akin to habitat loss or chemical pollution. More than half of insects are active at night. In France, an estimated 2,000 billion insects are killed each year by public lighting, either dying from exhaustion or being eaten by predators.”

Sometime after 2016, four Leeds wards were re-arranged. These were Headingley, Beeston and Holbeck, City and Hunslet, and Hyde Park and Woodhouse wards. Hyde Park and Woodhouse ward was split down the middle, with the division running through Woodhouse Moor. And so Hyde Park and Woodhouse ward, with its shocking statistics, was broken up. Headingley ward absorbed the deprived area of Hyde Park, and Little London and Woodhouse ward absorbed the deprived area of Woodhouse. We were told at the time that the re-arrangement was necessary because the population of Headingley ward had become too low for it to remain a ward. Previously, the area around Woodhouse Moor was all Hyde Park and Woodhouse ward, and so it was very easy to obtain statistics that showed living standards in the area around the park. This became impossible after the re-organisation. The latest census for Leeds prior to the re-organisation, was in 2011. This table shows the car ownership data from that census for every ward in Leeds. The figures it gives are the percentage of households possessing a car.

This table has been compiled from 2011 census data stored on this website. It shows very clearly that Hyde Park and Woodhouse ward had by far the lowest car ownership of any ward in Leeds. Only 27.6% of households in Hyde Park and Woodhouse owned a car. This compares with an average across Leeds of 41.6%. The next lowest ward for car ownership was Burmantofts and Richmond Hill at 33.7%.

I learnt today that the wildflower meadow has been given a reprieve. It will not be planted with whips. According to Parks and Countryside, it carried out a consultation during Summer 2024, and more people said then that they wanted whips, than had said that they didn’t want whips in October 2020. But why didn’t Parks and Countryside consult the same community groups that it consulted in October 2020? It’s fine to ask complete strangers – cold – if they want whips on Woodhouse Moor. Of course, they’ll say that they would. But did Parks and Countryside tell these people that the whips would be planted on an existing, flourishing wildflower meadow? Did these people have a debate, the way that local community groups had a debate in October 2020, a debate in which all the drawbacks with planting whips on the main Moor could be discussed?

On 18 December 2024, I met a representative from a butterfly conservation group, and a representative from Parks and Countryside, on Woodhouse Moor. The representative from the butterfly conservation group was wanting to establish areas of wildflower meadow on eight different Leeds’ parks. These were to cover 2000 square metres each. We already have a wildflower meadow on Woodhouse Moor which exceeds 8000 square metres in size, so I thought that accommodating this person’s requirements would be no problem. But when I arrived at the park, I found that the wildflower meadow had been cleared, and the grass mowed. The representative from Parks and Countryside told me that the wildflower meadow had been cleared as it was planned to plant 390 whips (small young trees) there. But local community groups were consulted in October 2020 about planting whips on the Moor, and it was decided after long debates, that no part of the main Moor was suitable for them. The meetings also decided that Monument Moor and Cinder Moor across Woodhouse Lane from the main Moor, were eminently suitable. But the Woodland Creation team didn’t seem interested in these areas. For them, the planting had to be on the main park. The consultations were organised by Phil Staniforth and Thuja Phillips from Parks and Countryside, and they took part in both meetings, held by Zoom because of the pandemic. After the meetings, the chairs of Little Woodhouse Community Association and North Hyde Park Neighbourhood Association wrote up the findings of the meetings and sent them to Parks and Countryside, and also to the Woodland Creation Team (the group behind the initiative). ¹1 ²2 So, given all of this, why are Parks and Countryside in collaboration with the Woodland Creation Team, planning on going ahead with whip planting on the main Moor? Doesn’t consultation mean anything to Leeds City Council?

Footnotes

1. NHPNA whip report 21.10.2020

2. LWCA whip report 25.10.2020

I met Thuja Phillips from Parks and Countryside on the park earlier today. She was accompanied by colleagues from Parks and Countryside, and the contractor. Thuja was wanting to replace cracked stone flags around the Victoria Memorial with tarmac. I told her that in a Leeds conservation area, you have to replace York stone flags with other York stone flags. I also showed her page 27 of the Headingley Hill, Hyde Park and Woodhouse Moor Conservation Area Appraisal. ¹1 This is a council document, and it says the same thing. It also says that the area of York stone should be extended “wherever possible.” I pointed out to her too that if the council forbade the use of vehicles on the park, there would be no cracked flags. But all of this fell on deaf ears. Thuja said that there was no money for York stone and that she would have to make an “executive decision” to replace the flags with tarmac.

Footnotes

1. Headingley Hill, Hyde Park and Woodhouse Moor Conservation Area Appraisal

Workmen are today putting up fencing to prevent Little Moor being used as by the patrons of TJ’s as a car park. Whilst this is very welcome, it’s only happening as a result of years of persistence by one of our committee members.

All that’s now required is for the remainder of Little Moor to be fenced. This will prevent those motorists who have been displaced by the new fencing, from parking their cars on other, as yet unfenced sections of Little Moor.

This photo was taken by Peter Mitchell in Spring 1986. The man being photographed is Francis Gavan. The clock tower of St Mark’s Church can be seen in the background. There is an exhibition of Mr Mitchell’s work at Leeds Art Gallery. It’s called “Nothing Lasts Forever” and is there until 6 October 2024. You can also see some of Mr Mitchell’s photographs in an article in today’s Guardian newspaper.

I found this video quite shocking. What would an art installation do for women’s safety? Provide a place for potential abusers to hide behind? This is THE MOOR! It was provided so working people in Leeds could get at least a bit of fresh air in a busy smog filled week. It was THE LUNGS of the city! If there is money to be spent on it it needs TOILETS, and the bandstand area could do with resurfacing properly. Those two things would benefit not only women at night, but the disabled and wheelchair users and everyone else ALL THE TIME! My family have lived within 100 yards of The Moor for over 150 years. It has always had a reputation for danger after dark. I would never go through it after dusk, not just because I’m female, but because it is better to be safer than sorry. I love The Moor, it has always been part of my home, but I don’t feel that it is my right to go through it at night. At night it belongs to the rabbits, foxes, squirrels, rats, and other wild life, not to me. The grass needs to regenerate after heavy Summer use and the weight of rubbish left all over it by irresponsible users. Lastly, I thought there was some research on the benefits of dark skies on peoples’ mental health. Most of the University area is permanently lit up like a Christmas tree at all times. Do we really want more of it?

The latest calls to light the park are predicated on the supposition that lighting would improve women’s safety, which suggests that women are at more risk on the park than men. But a 2007 article in Leeds Student newspaper states that in 2006, 69% of attacks on the park were against men.

The Yorkshire Evening Post has published an article about the latest plans to light the paths on Woodhouse Moor. Here is some of what it says:

“A volunteer group has spoken out after plans to light a Leeds park path resurfaced.

“And by so doing, they would be helping to preserve the darkness which the park’s flora and fauna need to thrive.””

You can read the entire article here.