Exclusive:'Save our playing fields': Campaigner's fight to protect 'vanishing' green land in Leeds
Campaigners are asking locals to put pen to paper and take part in a consultation to prevent a local green space from being redeveloped.
Leeds City Council have proposed to build an estimated 365 new houses on the Red Hall site in north-east Leeds.
The 28 hectares of land has been identified by the council as a “strategic site” to help meet the city’s housing growth targets.
The redevelopment would not involve the demolition or major alteration of the historic Red Hall House or other listed buildings on the site.
However, it would turn Red Hall Playing Fields, a green space that has been under public ownership since 1937, into housing.
A group of Leeds residents have united against the proposed redevelopment. They argue that the proposed transformation would destroy a precious green space valued by the local community and that it risks negatively impacting the heritage setting of Red Hall House.
In a consultation earlier this year, Historic England shared concerns that the proposition may fundamentally alter the open character of Red Hall House and therefore harm its significance.
A community group was formed in 2013 when local residents first noticed that Leeds City Council had shown interest in redeveloping the Red Hall Site.
Over the past 12 years, they have shared updates on Red Hall site plans through their blog titled Save Red Hall Playing Fields.
Now as Leeds City Council have opened an online public consultation regarding the site's reallocation for housing, the group ask members of the public to share their thoughts as soon as possible. The online consultation will close on September 15.
Russell Garner, a member of the group, described Red Hall Playing Fields as “the last public space in the area”. He fears that redevelopment will both damage a historical setting and remove a much-used community open space.
He said: “These kinds of places, they're vanishing fast. This is the wellspring of most community spirit in the area. It’s where you meet people and say hello.
“There's no real centre to anything else, and everything else is just becoming ribbon-like development or drivable housing.”
Red Hall Playing Fields are used for a range of purposes from sports to dog walks, to socialising with friends and family.
Leeds City Council have opened an online consultation for local people to share their thoughts on the proposed redevelopment alongside other planning policies before the deadline of September 15.
To find out more about the campaign to save Red Hall Playing Fields, visit the group’s blog or their Facebook page.