Campaigners have issued a ‘do-up or demolish’ call to council bosses over a long-abandoned Leeds pub.
Almost 200 people have signed a petition urging council bosses to act over the Fernlea pub in Tong Way, Farnley.
They also want to get part of its attached land turned into a play area for youngsters, who they say have nowhere to go.
Local Green Party councillor Ann Blackburn, who is spearheading the campaign, said the pub had become an “eyesore”, and children were playing in its forecourt because they have nowhere else to play.
She said action on the site would solve the dual problem.
The lease for the council-owned site is still held by Punch Taverns.
“It has been derelict for a while and has been closed for quite a few years,” Coun Blackburn said.
“It’s boarded up and I have recently been involved with getting the parapet taken down because it was rocking.
“They could pull the pub down and build houses or flats. I am not saying we don’t want anything done with the dilapidated pub but we just want a bit of the land for the kids too.
“The petition asks for the pub to be brought back into use or demolished, and for some of the land to be fenced off for the young people.”
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Coun Blackburn said she had lobbied Leeds City Council on several occasions about the issue but felt she was “banging my head on a brick wall”.
She said local children currently play in the pub forecourt and there’s no other facility for them on the estate.
“There’s only one small piece of grass with a ‘no ball games’ sign,” she said.
“The local park is Farnley Park, but it’s up a hill and over two main road and the kids don’t go there.
“The kids have been wanting to sign the petition themselves, and they have got their mothers to sign for them.”
A spokesman for Leeds City Council said the council has been working with Punch Taverns to look at “options including potential sale” of the site.
However he said the land was too small for a play area because of regulations about boundaries with houses.
“It’s been looked at and assessed and is just not suitable. Punch Taverns has the lease and says it is trying to come to some sort of solution,” he said.
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