News Release

Date: 5 January 2006

£3.7 MILLION RENAISSANCE FOR PARKS IN

A £3.7million spending programme to revitalise parks and green spaces is to be carried out across Leeds.

Leeds City Council today announced the huge injection of additional funding which is intended to bring about a renaissance in community parks and their surrounding areas and will cover parkland in every corner of Leeds.

Work totalling £600,000 is already under way, with a further £3.1m to be invested over the next two years as part of a historic reversal of the underspending in ’s parks which was estimated in a 2001 survey by the Urban Parks Forum to run to £1.3billion nationwide over the last 20 years.

The new funds will be invested in improving landscaping and horticulture in 23 parks and green spaces all over the city. Renovations include new elements of park infrastructure such as seating, fencing, signposting and educational information. Larger-scale projects will see the creation of new play areas, refurbished facilities and improvements to CCTV security systems.

Leader of Councillor Andrew Carter said:

“Our parks are a fantastic asset to Leeds and major investment in them is long overdue. This money will ensure everyone in the city sees real improvements in their local area.

“There are many health and well-being benefits in having green and pleasant public spaces in our local communities. Parks and green spaces are places where people can relax and enjoy nature, they can keep fit, and young people can also learn about our environment. We also have a lot of valued support from the many volunteers who enjoy doing their bit for their local park, and their efforts will play a key role in the success of this programme.”

Corporate Communications, Civic Hall, Leeds LS1 1UR Tel. 0113 247 4328 Fax. 0113 247 4736 For more news and information from Leeds City Council visit www.leeds.gov.uk

www.leeds.gov.uk Switchboard : 0113 234 8080

More than 4,000 hectares of green space are managed by Leeds City Council’s Parks and Countryside service, and the Parks Renaissance programme will see improvements made as part of the council’s commitment to community parks and to the Town and District regeneration project. At Park, work will be carried out to renovate the existing play area with new surfacing and equipment, a separate area for toddlers will be created and there will also be new benches and dog- proof fencing put in place. In addition the Pets Corner is to be refurbished.

Western Flatts Park in Wortley will see shrub areas altered as well as resurfacing to the car park and footpaths, while Springhead Park in Rothwell is to have improved lighting and CCTV, a completely revamped playground and landscaped borders.

Executive Member for Leisure Councillor John Procter said:

“Leeds is reputed to have more acres of green space per head of population than anywhere else in Europe and we are very proud of that. As John Ruskin famously said: ‘The measure of any great civilisation is in its cities, and a measure of a city’s greatness is to be found in the quality of its public spaces, its parks and its squares.’ We have certainly taken this on board with our Parks Renaissance programme.

“We have a wide variety of wonderful parks and public spaces in Leeds, and this programme will help us to invest in them and maintain them for future generations to enjoy.”

The programme will also bring about better provision for young people, with £475,000 being identified for youth facilities such as skate parks and BMX tracks. In addition, £100,000 will be invested in allotment improvements and another £100,000 in public rights of way.

The list also includes the installation of the bronze award-winning Chelsea Flower Show garden as a permanent feature in Millennium Square in the city centre.

The decisions on where to spend the cash were taken after around 90 parks and green spaces in Leeds were assessed against the national Green Flag quality standards. The city currently has four parks which are Green Flag standard-bearers at , Lotherton Hall, Pudsey Park and Temple Newsam, and the experiences gained from entering this prestigious competition allowed the Parks and Countryside service to use these standards as the guide to determine the areas most in need of improvements. Corporate Communications, Civic Hall, Leeds LS1 1UR Tel. 0113 247 4328 Fax. 0113 247 4736 For more news and information from Leeds City Council visit www.leeds.gov.uk www.leeds.gov.uk Switchboard: 0113 234 8080

Parks play a major role in daily life in Leeds, as according to the 2004 Leeds Resident Survey an astonishing 58 million visits are made to parks in the city every year. A quarter of the 30,000 households from across the city asked to participate in the survey did so, while half of the 5,000 children and young people invited to give their views also contributed. The overall responses revealed that 92% of adults and 97% of children and young people use the city’s parks.

The most popular reasons for those visits included exercise (21.5 million visits), taking the children to play (20 million), relaxation (19.5 million), playing sport and games (2.4 million), meeting friends (1.9 million) , walking (690,000) and riding bikes (780,000).

Notes for editors: The areas to be refurbished under the Parks Renaissance Programme are as follows: Park, Park, Barley Hill Park, Beckett Street Cemetery, East End Park, Farsley Recreation Ground, Glebelands, Grove Road, Hall Park, Manston Park, Park, Micklefield Park, Pudsey Park, Scatcherd Park, Springhead Park, the Harland Way, Victoria Park, Western Flatts Park, Westroyd Park, Wilderness car park, Wharfemeadows Park, Woodhouse Moor, Woodhouse Square.

Evidence gathered by the government organisation CABE Space (the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) suggests that poorly-maintained parks can attract anti-social behaviour. However, the organisation also cites examples of places nationally where a combination of good design, management and maintenance has transformed no-go areas back into popular community spaces. [“Start with the Park”, published by CABE Space, 2005.]

John Ruskin was an eminent Victorian writer, philosopher, artist, environmentalist, scientist and poet, and in all his work was a major supporter of the value of parks and the role they play in society.

For media inquiries please contact: Donna Cox, Leeds City Council press office, 0113- 395 0393 Email: [email protected] ENDS

Corporate Communications, Civic Hall, Leeds LS1 1UR Tel. 0113 247 4328 Fax. 0113 247 4736 For more news and information from Leeds City Council visit www.leeds.gov.uk www.leeds.gov.uk Switchboard: 0113 234 8080