Meanwood Road: Birdbox disguised as a police speed camera spotted on busy Leeds road

The birdbox has been erected outside of a house on Meanwood Road near to the council’s recycling centre as part of The Meanwood Road Project.

The project has been set up by neighbours and fellow artists Lizzie Coombes and Katy Hayley to bring more colour and vibrancy to the area in conjunction with the Leeds 2023 event.

The man whose home the birdbox has been erected outside of for the past two weeks says that he has noticed motorists have been adjusting their speeds when using the long, wide and busy road that heads out of north Leeds.

The homeowner, who didn’t want to be named, said: “My daughter is disabled and we always have to wait a long time to get across the road and there’s no crossing.

"Even when we start moving there will be a car that will fly down at 60mph and we can’t speed up.

"It’s very straight and wide so people feel like it’s not a residential space.”

The group were also enthused to see that the birdbox had led to warnings being posted on community groups to other motorists.

The idea for the birdbox came after the project team read a news story about a similar method being used in Billingham, Teesside, to control speeding.

The homeowner added: “Someone read about it and thought ‘these would be great for Meanwood Road’.

"It also said in the article that police had said that they are perfectly legal.”

The box was designed by members of local men’s group Meanwood Men Shed and features a description explaining what it is for anyone that might be confused.

The homeowner said it was hard to measure how much of an impact it had had on drivers but added: “I do think some people definitely slow down and it’s had some impact.

"There’s been a few messages too and clearly people have seen it and slowed down.”

The birdbox is one of a number of community projects carried out by The Meanwood Road Project, who have also turned the road into a long portrait gallery featuring pictures of hundreds of people that live on the stretch.