I AM a pensioner who has lived in Hyde Park for most of my life. I walk my dog on Woodhouse Moor every day (and clean up after him).
This morning the Moor was glorious in the Spring sunshine, with cherry blossom, and daffodils still blooming in the grass.
But sadly, after the first really hot day of the year, the Moor was littered with glass bottles, plastic bags, food containe
rs and yes, the charred remains of portable tinfoil barbecues and patches of grass burnt to the roots. And of course the leftover food, including chicken bones, a hazard to dogs.
John Egan, the park keeper, and his colleagues had been working, clearing up, since 7.10am but an hour later still had loads to do.
He told me how, the previous afternoon, he had watched a group of young people finish their meal (and drinks) then get up and walk away from their litter. When he asked them to clear it up they said, "It's not ours" – though one young man went back and picked up one can. They were all laughing as they walked away.
Why, if someone can be fined £50 for dropping a cigarette stub in town, are people allowed to leave their rubbish on the oldest public park in Leeds, which is for everyone to enjoy?
And why, instead of spending thousands of pounds on a "consultation" for a "designated barbecue area", can the council not employ extra park staff to enforce the existing byelaws which say, "No barbecues or bonfires"?
Woodhouse Moor is our local treasure – let's "Love it but leave it unspoiled".
Elizabeth Leigh, by email