Last chance to have your say on the future of parks and green spaces in Leeds

A citywide consultation about the future of parks and green spaces in Leeds will end on 29^th February, so there is no better time than now to get your voice heard.

Leeds City Council is developing a strategy for how it will manage public parks and green spaces across the city over the next 10 years. The goal is to have a strategy that takes into account the opinions of local people and reflects the views of everyone in Leeds.

Altogether, the council manages almost 4,000 hectares of public parks and green space. Public parks and green spaces include everything from big city parks such as Roundhay Park and Temple Newsam to local community parks such as Cross Flatts Park and Springhead Park, nature areas and woodlands, recreation grounds and even cemeteries.

The council would like to hear the thoughts of residents and visitors to Leeds on parks and green spaces in the city, and how they might be managed in future.

Also, seven potential priorities have been proposed for the strategy, and you can share your thoughts on them with the council by completing a simple online survey.

The potential priorities that have been identified are;

· Quality - Providing good quality green space

· Equality of opportunity - Green space for everyone

· Environment - Greening the city

· Health and Wellbeing - Supporting healthy, active lifestyles

· Sustainability - Public green space for the long term

· Collaboration - Working as a team for Leeds

· ​Culture - Contributing to the cultural offer of the city

Have your say at https://surveys.leeds.gov.uk/s/G76QA/ before the consultation closes on 29th February.

Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for the environment and active lifestyles, said:

“We are proud of our public parks and green spaces across the city and know that they are essential to the quality of life and wellbeing of our residents. We are putting together a strategy for managing them over the next decade, and want to ensure it reflects the needs of all our communities, which is why we are keen to hear as many opinions as possible on parks and their future.”

Notes to editors:

Leeds City Council Parks and Countryside Service manages almost 4,000 hectares of public parks and green space. This ‘green space’ includes:

· 7 major parks (e.g. Roundhay, Golden Acre and Temple Newsam) – all Green Flag award winners

· 63 community parks (e.g. Cross Flatts Park, Horsforth Hall Park)

· 95 recreation grounds

· 101 allotment sites

· 819 km of public rights of way

· 156 nature conservation sites (including woodlands)

· 24 cemeteries and 3 crematoria

· The department has won several awards in recent years, including being the winner in the city centre category of Yorkshire in Bloom 2019.

· The facilities provided on parks and countryside sites include:

· 174 playgrounds

· 500 sports facilities including bowling greens, golf courses, tennis courts, football and cricket pitches

· 29 outdoor gyms

· 3 zoos (at Tropical World, Lotherton Hall and Pudsey Park)

· a rare-breeds visitor farm

· 5 cafés

· 24 skate parks

· 5 shops

· specialist gardens and plant collections (e.g. at Golden Acre and Temple Newsam)

We also run The Arium, a nursery which produces over 3 million plants for the city each year.

For media enquiries:

Becky Stubbs, Leeds City Council press office

Tel: 01133786199

Email: rebecca.stubbs@leeds.gov.uk