Byelaws – Woodhouse Moor Online

DEPUTATION TO INWAC 24.2.11

March 3, 2011 Bill Comments 0 Comment

At this evening’s meeting of INWAC at St Chad’s Parish Centre, Sue Buckle made the following plea for funding for park wardens for Woodhouse Moor:

Byelaws and barbeques on Woodhouse Moor – an issue on which much has been said! However, I ask you, please, to listen without preconceptions as it’s an issue many people care about, passionately.

Byelaws exist so that everyone can enjoy parks safely, and leave a park green, unspoiled, and undamaged for the next people who come along, whether minutes, hours, days, or even months later.

Local authorities have a duty to enforce these byelaws.

In recent years, we’ve had problems on Woodhouse Moor, since the increased popularity of disposable barbeques. Although enjoying cooked food in fresh air doesn’t sound like a problem, unfortunately a “Barbeque Culture” can go with it which can lead to excessive alcohol consumption, with smashed bottles in the grass, leftover food to attract rats (and endanger dogs, in the case of chicken bones), with lasting damage to the environment. Smoke pollution can also be a problem to local residents, especially on sunny days.

As the most intensively used park in Leeds, serving an area with some of the highest population density in Leeds (and, indeed, the country) Woodhouse Moor has suffered along with all the people using it, whether walking across it to work or study, spending time there with children or dog, walking, running or just enjoying the peace and quiet of the green surroundings.

In 2009, when asked for park wardens to be provided, Councillor Procter said that if Parks and Countryside funded them, it would set a precedent for all Leeds parks.

So in February last year, INWAC voted £25,085 for two wardens to patrol Woodhouse Moor from April 1st to 30th September (This was part of the “designated barbeque area” proposal which was subsequently halted).

The result was wonderful! The system worked! Woodhouse Moor was a green park for everyone to enjoy – and so many people commented, over the Summer and since, how it was such a pleasure to see the park looking so beautiful.

It must be said that big thanks are especially due to Riz, who was on duty with the buggy for most of the Summer, and Kevin Barker, now retired, who did so much to make the scheme a success.

In June 2010, a report to the Executive Board said,

“The presence of Parks Watch officers is proving successful in preventing barbecue activity at Woodhouse Moor and enforcing the byelaws. If funding is sustained, then it is felt that enforcement activity could be a viable long term solution to address issues associated with barbecue use.”

That £25,085 actually saved money – as the previous year over £100,000 was spent on call-outs to the fire service to deal with fires on the Moor, which invariably had started as barbeques, and less was spent on litter picking as extra Parks and Countryside staff were not called away from gardening duties to pick up litter (There were also less injuries to Parks staff, previously caused when they had to clear up the remains of barbeques, such as hot metal trays, sharp skewers and grilles).

We are asking INWAC – please could you vote £25,085 to cover the cost of wardens again this year – and for the next two years.

Woodhouse Moor is special. It’s a big part of people’s lives. Walking in the park in the morning can lift the spirits, especially when the sun shines through the trees on the grass, and as now, on the spring flowers. If it’s a mess, it can really bring people down, even upset them.

Our park is a place which people can retreat to, away from the streets of terraced houses, or just to escape the pressure of life. It’s especially beautiful now – and thanks must go to our local MBE, John Egan, who’s up there before 7.30 every morning keeping it that way.

Sometimes an issue comes up which transcends party politics. The Royal Park School Building is one. It was so great at the January Executive Board seeing all the political parties voting together to give the community a chance of getting Royal Park.

Please let this be another of those times. Please vote now to allocate funding for park wardens to enforce the byelaws on Woodhouse Moor from April 1st to September 30th, because although it might seem extravagant to compare keeping Woodhouse Moor green to saving the planet, if you do allocate the funding, it will feel to the people of Hyde Park as if you’re doing just that!

Sue’s speech received thunderous applause from the audience, and a warm and positive response from councillors, who said that they would be in a position to vote funds once they have met on the 9th March to decide their funding priorities. The 9th March meeting will be followed shortly afterwards by a special meeting of INWAC at which votes on funding will be made.

DOES THIS LOOK LIKE ZERO TOLERANCE ?

November 29, 2009 Bill Comments 0 Comment

[Show picture list]

These photographs were taken in late Spring 2009 and are evidence of the anti social behaviour that takes place regularly on Woodhouse Moor. How can Leeds City Council allow such behaviour when at page 27 of its Vision for Leeds 2004 to 2020, it claims :

Making Leeds Europe’s cleanest and greenest city is an important principle for our Vision and we will launch a project to improve pride in the city. The project will:

draw together the actions of many organisations and businesses in Leeds to reduce litter, wastefulness and pollution;

promote individual rights and responsibilities to tackle these problems;

challenge those who create problems for others to solve;

create a zero-tolerance culture – the council and the Environment Agency will work together to reduce litter, abandoned cars, graffiti, stray dogs and dog fouling;

encourage big public-sector organisations like the council, universities, health service and private businesses to reduce waste, limit pollution and use natural resources much more efficiently; and

improve the quality of and access to our local parks and green spaces.

COUNCILLOR JOHN BALE

November 8, 2009 Bill Comments 0 Comment

At a recent meeting of the Scrutiny Board (Central and Corporate), Councillor John Procter said that the council has no policy of non-enforcement of the byelaws, but that when council staff are faced with infringements of the byelaws, they carry out on the spot risk assessments to enable them to decide whether or not to intervene. Councillor Procter added that once the designated barbeque area is in place, his department will be “ruthless on the rest of the Moor” and “shall deploy substantial additional resources to enforce no fires.”

Councillor John Bale was present at the meeting, and has expressed the following views on Councillor Procter’s statement, and on the need to enforce the byelaws :

I’m re-assured by Councillor Procter’s argument. Once the new policy is in place there has to be zero tolerance. Law enforcers always have to exercise discretion, and a rapid risk assessment (e.g. might violence ensue if I try to impose a fine now?) is a necessary part of exercising discretion. But once you start to exercise discretion, if you exercise it in one direction only, you’re back with anarchy.

Our laws and byelaws exist to protect citizens. It would be ludicrous not to enforce the byelaws. The problem is one of perception on the part of residents. Maybe risk assessment means that staff aren’t enforcing. Might it be the case that ParksWatch aren’t taking enforcement measures as they think it’s inflammatory and that the risks are greater with enforcement.

ParksWatch and byelaws are not to oppress but to protect people from nuisance and danger, and the environment. I’m worried that because of the difficulty of dealing with lit barbeques, the reality is that the byelaws are not being enforced. There may be a de facto policy of limited enforcement. If that policy exists, then the law is an ass, as it doesn’t provide the security to the public that the byelaws are meant to provide them with.

The difficulty is how to enforce the byelaws without the cure being worse than the disease. But this doesn’t help the residents affected by the problem. This is similar to the demise of bus conductors. We’ve given up on continuous supervision in the public realm. If people can light barbeques and no one can do anything about it, that’s a problem. From the public’s point of view, it amounts to non-enforcement.

PARKS BEFORE BARBEQUES

October 4, 2009 Kathleen Mason Comments 0 Comment

At the age of three I was taken to Leeds parks to see the animals, to play on the grass, to see the boats and to have an ice-cream. A little later, I was taken there for a paddle, for a ride on the motor launch, to the fair, to watch Punch and Judy, to listen to the band, to attend Children’s Day, to watch cricket, to go on the children’s playground, to have a picnic, to sledge, to see the flowers, to see and feed the ducks. Later still I’ve gone there to swim, to watch yachting skills, to visit hothouses, to go to the circus. Later to meet friends, to walk and talk with them, to experience the beauty of a park at night, to sit alone in a park on a bench in the middle of winter and there to contemplate a change of career. And yet later, I’ve gone to Leeds parks, and taken others there for the therapeutic healing which their atmospheres can induce. I’ve pushed invalids in wheelchairs to Leeds parks – people with dementia to let them experience again what it is like to be with people out in the open air and all having a good time. I’ve taken my daughter as a child there, a fostered child there, I’ve exercised my dog there, I’ve taken mobile people with mental problems there and I’ve skated on ice there. I’ve flown kites there, played ball there, I’ve watched cycle racing there and I’ve fished there.

I’ve visited Leeds parks for Pop Concerts, Open-Air Theatre shows, I’ve wined and dined there, played tennis there, attended dog shows, taken part in sponsored walks, danced there, watched model aircraft being flown there. I’ve rowed boats there, made tree rubbings there, read books and studied there. To get to Leeds parks, I’ve trudged, walked, “trammed”, bussed and car journeyed there.

All of these things hold memories for me that I wouldn’t like to be without. Not one of them interfered with anyone else’s enjoyment of any park at any time. Isn’t this the fundamental problem with barbecues? BARBECUES INTRUDE UPON OTHER PEOPLE’S LIVES.

(photo courtesy of Photo Gallery)

THE COMMUNITY’S RESPONSE TO COUNCILLOR BRETT

September 27, 2009 Bill Comments 0 Comment

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)

COUNCILLOR MICK LYONS O.B.E.

September 27, 2009 Bill Comments 0 Comment

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.

THE PLEA THAT FELL ON DEAF EARS

September 27, 2009 Bill Comments 0 Comment

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.

BERNARD ATHA’S ADDRESS TO THE FULL COUNCIL

September 16, 2009 Bill Comments 0 Comment

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.

THE PRESENT-DAY SMOKE-FILLED LUNGS OF LEEDS

September 6, 2009 Bill Comments 0 Comment

The problem of smoke pollution on the Moor began about six years ago with the advent of the disposable barbeque. These are shallow aluminium trays covered with a metal grille and which contain charcoal. They can usually be purchased for less that £2. Although charcoal is supposed to be a smokeless fuel, the charcoal used in disposable barbeques gives off prodigious amounts of smoke.

A study carried out by the French environmental group Robin des Bois found that a two hour barbeque produces 220,000 times as many cancer causing dioxins as a single cigarette and seven times as many dioxins as an incinerator at the point of discharge. In addition to dioxins, barbeques release hydrocarbons (which contribute to global warming), sulphur dioxide (which contributes to acid rain) and particulates (soot, which contributes to global dimming and vitamin D deficiency in cities at northern latitudes).

On a warm day in late Spring and early Summer, there can be over a hundred barbeques on the Moor belching out smoke and fumes for several hours. In May 2008, the amount of smoke being produced on the Moor meant that residents of neighbouring properties had to keep their windows shut. Kathleen Mason wrote recently to the Yorkshire Evening Post to express the concerns felt by many local residents about the hazard posed to their health by the high level of smoke pollution on the Moor.

LAMBETH COUNCILLOR RUTH LING ON HOW LAMBETH DEALT WITH A SIMILAR PROBLEM ON CLAPHAM COMMON

August 29, 2009 Bill Comments 0 Comment

Commenting on the decision by Lib Dem and Conservative councillors on Leeds City Council’s Exective Board to ignore the wishes of local residents and proceed with a scheme to create barbque areas on Woodhouse Moor, Lambeth councillor Ruth Ling explains how two years ago, Lambeth Council dealt with a similar problem on Clapham Common:

“This decision is a great shame, and very short-sighted. Barbecues do a great deal of harm to the park (or Moor) where they are lit, create a very unpleasant smoky atmosphere for other park users and invariably lead to bones and other food waste being left lying around, which attract rats.

“Although I grew up in Leeds (Ash Grove, Hyde Park), went to school in Headingley, and used to walk across Woodhouse Moor every day to Jacob Kramer Art College and later to my job at Leeds Playhouse, sadly I have been exiled in London for many years. For the past 15 years, I have been a councillor for Clapham Common, where we successfully banned barbecues a couple of years ago without any fuss. I have never received one complaint from anyone unhappy about the decision, nor have I ever heard from any resident of any incidence of the bye-laws being flouted (and we have some extremely active and vocal local amenity groups including the Clapham Society, Friends of Clapham Common and the Clapham Common Management Advisory Committee). Admittedly, we have park rangers to enforce the ban (though the Common is more than three times larger than Woodhouse Moor, at 88 hectares) but I think the real enforcement comes in the £500 fine, which is hefty enough to act as a deterrent.

“For the large Council estates facing onto and close by the Common, this lovely green space is their front garden, and it is always packed on sunny days. Yet people seem happy to take picnics with them, and to eat cold food — there is no need to eat hot food on a warm day! And I think the thousands of people who pack on to the Common on sunny days really appreciate not being smoked out by the few.

“I really hope that Leeds City Council reconsiders its decision and that the Moor is left barbecue-free for the greater enjoyment of the majority. But please sort out the litter problem! Every time I visit my old stamping grounds (as I will this weekend for Carnival), I am shocked at the mess on the Moor. Good luck.”

If only we had a councillor like Ruth here.