First look at plans for Whitehall Riverside Pocket Park between River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal

Tom Coates
By Tom Coates
Published 21st Oct 2022, 04:45 BST
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Work on a new pocket park between the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal has begun.

Leeds City Council have provided a first look at the plans for the Whitehall Riverside Pocket Park, which will be open to the public by the end of the calendar year. It is set to include sustainable public seating areas, wildflowers and grassland, and will be just over 3,200 square metres in size.

It will follow the linear layout of the space, with a path weaving through and leading to seating areas. Leeds City Council have said all materials proposed for the site are permeable and food tolerant. With biodiversity in the city centre in mind, the project will add at least 17 new trees and a range of plants including wild garlic, daffodils and bluebells. The council have confirmed that no healthy trees will be removed from the site.

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Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Leeds City Council’s deputy leader and executive member for economy, culture and education, said: “This stunning new green space is a fitting tribute to the history and natural beauty of the Leeds waterways which have played such an important part in shaping Leeds over the centuries.

It will follow the linear layout of the space, with a path weaving through and leading to seating areas. Image: Leeds City CouncilIt will follow the linear layout of the space, with a path weaving through and leading to seating areas. Image: Leeds City Council
It will follow the linear layout of the space, with a path weaving through and leading to seating areas. Image: Leeds City Council

“The park will not only give people a chance to sit and appreciate their surroundings in an area which currently has no public seating, it will also be an example of how the city is working together to create a cleaner, greener, more sustainable Leeds.”

The park is being funded by Leeds City Council's city centre enhancements fund along with money from the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government’s Pocket Park Fund, and The Veolia Environmental Trust’s Landfill Communities Fund.

Becca Dent, strategic delivery programme manager at Canal and River Trust said: “This is a project close to my heart, that’s been a few years in the making and it’s great to see work begin onsite. Helping people to connect with their local canal or river is a hugely important part of what our charity does as independent research shows that being by water can really help boost our happiness and wellbeing."

Related topics:Leeds City CouncilLeeds