The Veterans’ Shelter
The building on the Moor now occupied by Akmal’s Tandoori Bistro used to be a shelter for the Woodhouse Moor Veterans’ Association. The establishment of shelters for veterans in Leeds parks dates from 1922. By the 1930s, all Leeds’ parks had a shelter for veterans. There was even a Leeds Federation of Park Shelters. This Yorkshire Post article from January 1927 about the establishment of veterans’ shelters in parks in Bradford suggests that there may have been a widespread movement to create veterans’ shelters in UK parks following the First World War.
The Woodhouse Moor Veterans’ Association had previously occupied a more basic shelter that was located in the middle of the Moor. In 1933, the Woodhouse Moor Veterans’ Association began to raise funds for a new shelter, and approached house builder Frank Thompson for an estimate.
According to Tony Shelton in his article, “Dream Builders: The Thompsons of Golden Acre” :
“In 1933, the Woodhouse Moor Veterans’ Association approached Frank Thompson for an estimate for constructing a veterans’ shelter on Woodhouse Moor. ‘I quoted them nothing,’ said Thompson; ‘I thought it was a very worthy cause.’ ”
Whereas the original plan for the building was that it should be built in the old English style, the building which actually got built was in a style of its own. This Yorkshire Evening Post article from August 1933 shows the original design. This photo shows that the design originally intended for Woodhouse Moor was used for a building that was erected on an island in the lake at the pleasure garden Frank Thompson created called “Golden Acre” (now Golden Acre Park between Adel and Bramhope).
According to a Yorkshire Post article from July 1935 the veterans’ shelter was opened on the 24th July 1935 by the then Lord Mayor, Alderman W. Hemingway. The article states that during the opening ceremony, Alderman Hemingway stated, “This building will be cared for, thought about, and used for ever.” He added, “And when your generation has gone, this plaque will be read, and somebody will say that you in your day and generation did something for the people.” This last was addressed to businessman Frank Thompson, who had built the shelter at his own expense in memory of his father and presented it to the city as a gift.
The Yorkshire Evening Post article from August 1933 also stated:
“The offer of the proposed building was first made by Mr Frank Thompson to the Conservative councillors of Woodhouse Ward, and was put forward by them to the authorities concerned.”
We then read in a Yorkshire Post article from June 1936 that Mr Frank Thompson was chosen to be the Conservative candidate for Woodhouse Ward at the next local elections.
The new shelter was used as a clubhouse by the Woodhouse Moor Veterans’ Association which at that time had around 90 members whose ages ranged from 65 to 93. It had four rooms, two of which could be made into one large concert room by means of a sliding partition. This “concert room” could hold 120 people. More details regarding the buildings’ facilities are given in this Yorkshire Evening Post article from July 1935.
Following a period of disuse, between 1983 and 1986 the shelter was the home of ‘Pavilion’, a women’s photography centre. In 1996 it was used as a cafe called Dubterranean. Since 1998 it’s been a curry house called “Akmal’s Tandoori Bistro.”
THE PRIVATE USE OF PUBLIC LAND
This article suggests that the Labour Party may have been opposed to the establishment of veteran’s shelters in Leeds parks. Possibly this opposition was on the basis that the move represented the privatisation of public property.
At the ceremony in July 1935 to open the new and very substantial veterans’ shelter on the Moor, Mary Pearce, the Labour chairwoman of the Parks Committee said:
“It is not possible for the Corporation to dedicate a building erected in a public park to any special organisation, such as the Woodhouse Moor Veterans’ Association, although they will no doubt be its principal users.”
It was in her role as chairwoman of the Parks Committee that Mary Pearce would in 1950 decide to remove the allotments from Woodhouse Moor a decision that was overturned in 1951 as a result of the Conservatives taking control of the city in the May 1951 local elections.
This article states that the new veterans’ shelter was a gift from Frank Thompson to the Woodhouse Ward Conservative councillors. The shelter opened in 1935 and in 1936, Mr Thompson stood for election as a Conservative councillor in Woodhouse Ward. It’s ironic that a building whose purpose may have been to win political support for the Conservative Party, a move which at the time may have been opposed by the Labour Party, should now be rented out as a private restaurant and take-away and regularly host Labour Party functions.
THE EXTENSION
In 2006, work began on building an extension to the shelter. We discovered at that time that a planning application to build the extension had been made by the leaseholder on the 16th October 2001. In a memo to Parks and Countryside dated the 12th November 2001, the Planning Department asked if Parks and Countryside had any objection to the proposal. The reply is unsigned and dated the 21st November 2001 and states “P + C HAVE NO OBJECTIONS TO THE USE OF PARKS LAND” The memo is stamped as having been received within Parks and Countryside on the 13th November and the stamp used was embossed with the name of the then head of the department John Davies and his assistant Denise Preston. The planning file record states that a notice of the planning application was posted (probably on a tree adjacent to the shelter), on the 29th October 2001.
When we raised the matter at a meeting with Denise Preston at the Civic Hall on the 16th August 2006 (at which Lib Dem councillors Martin Hamilton, Penny Ewens and Kabeer Hussain were present) Ms Preston revealed that Parks and Countryside had indeed had objections but that there had at the time been strong political pressure placed on them not to raise them.
The extension has a “cupola” similar to the one on the main building. But unlike the cupola on the main building, the cupola on the extension uses ridge tiles on the hips. This will have been a cost saving measure. It looks clumsy and is only acceptable from the point of view of safety where the hip is less than a certain angle. It appears that the angle on this cupola exceeds this limit. This was a matter for Building Control. But no application was made for building regulation approval. The cupola on the original building was removed around 2019. This was done without the permission of the building’s owner (Leeds City Council), and without the consent of the planning authority, even though Woodhouse Moor is part of a conservation area.
During the construction of the extension, two mature trees were cut down. This was done without permission.
In addition to submitting a formal application for planning permission to build the extension, Akmal’s should have formally asked permission of Leeds City Council’s Chief Asset Management Officer since the council is the landlord – but this was not done.
Under Section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972, the council should have advertised its intention to appropriate the public open space that the extension was to be built on, but this was not done.
The extension presumably belongs to the current tenant whilst the land belongs to Leeds City Council. This situation may give the current tenant a pre-emptive right to lease renewal regardless of other considerations. This raises the question as to whether the council could be obliged to reimburse the current tenant with the cost of building the extension if the lease is not renewed to the current tenant.
THE NEON
The planning history for this site shows that a planning application for neon lighting was refused on the 5th January 2001 (see app no 26/39/01/51). Akmal’s went ahead regardless. An enforcement case was brought against them. But in December 2003, the council withdrew its breach of consent action from the Prosecution Office. As a result of pressure from Friends of Woodhouse Moor, on the 30th April 2007 a council officer sent out a letter giving Akmal’s 28 days to remove the neon. However, a year later, Akmal’s installed newer much brighter neon.
In February 2009 we were told that the sign that is present on the building falls under deemed consent. Therefore, enforcement action cannot be taken. The other neon lights that are present on the building are not considered to be signage or development, so the Compliance Team cannot pursue this.
Akmal’s don’t have a website. Not having a website, they may rely on neon and floodlighting to attract a clientele.
TAKE-AWAY SERVICE
Akmal’s operate a take-away service. Here is Akmal’s take-away menu. It states that Akmal’s is open from 5pm until late.
PARKING
Cars are parked by Akmal’s staff and customers in front of the veterans’ shelter. This is in contravention of the byelaws and encourages copycat parking by members of the public. Car parking has damaged the York stone pavers adjacent to the shelter. Akmal’s staff allow vehicular access to everyone by every evening removing the bollard at the main entrance to the park near the Victoria Memorial and not replacing it. Akmal’s hold functions where large numbers of cars park on the grass. The tenant drives around the paths on the park and when challenged, claims he’s entitled.
WASTE DISPOSAL
Akmal’s disposed of trade waste in park bins for many years. They only desisted about 2008 due to strenuous action by Friends of Woodhouse Moor.
FLOODLIGHTS
About three years ago (this was written in 2016), Akmal’s installed floodlights that are so bright, they can be seen right across the park.
FINAL THOUGHTS
When the park was purchased in 1857, there was a pub on the park called the Manor House, and there were also some kennels. These were compulsorily purchased and demolished as the idea behind the park was that town dwellers could have the same sort of country estate experience that the land owning gentry enjoyed. So it’s curious that the process has been partly reversed in the 20th century first with the building of the veterans’ shelter on the park, and then with the leasing of it to successive tenants. The leasing of the building contravenes the policy set forth by Mary Pearce, the Labour chair of the Parks Committee, when she said at the opening of the shelter in July 1935, “It is not possible for the Corporation to dedicate a building erected in a public park to any special organisation.”
The question arises as to whether a curry house in a park, which is only open from 5pm until late (when most visitors to the park have left), which operates a take-away service, which permits and encourages people to bring cars onto the park, which has neon and floodlighting which can be seen right across the park, which has extended the original building destroying its unique and unusual shape, and which has cut down mature trees without permission – adds to the enjoyment of park users or fulfils any useful function in an area with a shortage of greenspace and a vast number of curry houses.
Here are some old articles about the shelter.
