Category Archives: Regeneration

White Cross Vets Fund New Hillside Bin by Chris Parapia

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White Cross Vetinary Nurse, Amanda Hatfield withe the Hillside Bin

Saturday 2nd March;  what a beautiful sunny spring morning,  and what better time to celebrate the “official” bin naming ceremony at the end of Hillside Avenue.  After many months of negotiation and perseverance the new bin has finally made it into position.

Many thanks to Tim Harrison and staff at White Cross Vets Practice for sponsoring the cost of the bin,  and to committee members Josie Brooks, Nicola Denson and Chris Parapia for their persistance.  Thanks also to Councillor Latty and Martin Beaumont from Leeds City Council for ensuring that the bin was supplied.

Thanks also to White Cross Vets for supplying us with some “doggie” bags which we gave out to passing dog walkers with very positive comments.

Barbara’s Bench

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Barbara Winfield and Andy Cheetham, testing the new bench

Barbara Winfield and Andy Cheetham, testing the new bench

Anyone going to the Park for a brisk winter walk, will notice a new addition to the landscape – Barbara’s Bench; or to be precise, the bench Barbara and brother, Alan Winfield, have donated to the Park in honour of their parents Norman and Marjorie Winfield (nee Rhodes).

Sited on a favourite old spot, where workers ate their sandwiches in summer, and courting couples lingered in spring, Barbara’s Bench was expertly installed by Jamie Scott, of S Thorpe, Groundwork Ltd, who were contracted by Bellway Homes.   And, for those of a dubious disposition,  yes it is level, and we have a photo of the proof.  The concrete slabs are the original ones from the days of the old bench installed by John Moore and his team. Continue reading →

The 2012 Bulb Bonanza Makes a Difference – With Your Help

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500 Bulbs to Plant

Saturday 27th October is “Make a Difference Day” – run by the Community Service Volunteers (CSV), it is the UK’s biggest day of volunteering, and provides opportunities for thousands of people to volunteer every year in activities across the country. 

The Friends of Parkinson’s Park, have therefore decided to dedicate our regular Saturday morning working party to  a special project to ‘make a difference’ to the Park .   The task is to plan 500 small daffodil bulbs which have been given to us by the Groundwork Trust Continue reading →

It’s Your Neighbourhood

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It’s Your Neighbourhood -Friends of Parkinson’s Park, Level 3 Developing

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) supports a grassroots community gardening scheme called It’s Your Neighbourhood (IYN).  The idea is help local people to “clean up and green up their immediate local environment to make a lasting improvement- whether that’s the street they live in, or a small patch of communal land needing a revamp”.   By 2012 over 1,000 groups from all over the UK had signed up to the scheme and Parkinson’s Park is one of them. Continue reading →

Parkinson’s Park Removed from the SHLAA

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We have heard today from Leeds City Planners, that, after strong protests by both ourselves and local councillors, Parkinson’s Park has been removed from the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment, by the Leeds SHLAA Partnership.

SHLAA sites have been identified by Leeds and various local land owners as potential areas for housing.  These sites are currently being assessed for their housing potential under the Leeds Local Development Framework.

This still leaves the Kelcliffe Lane land in the SHLAA, and maybe other new areas in this part of Guiseley, but at least this is a start.  The new 2012 SHLAA map will be available in October, following a call earlier this year for more land to be earmarked as housing potential.

Yorkshire Life

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Yorkshire Life – August 2012

The Friends of Parkinson’s Park get an honorary mention in the August edition of Yorkshire Life, in the feature on ‘Make it Happen’, in Guiseley and Menston.   The sub-title being, “the get up and go of two West Yorkshire Communities is inspiring”.

The sub theme of the article is the bounce back from development, and fight against inappropriate development.  Although,  it does not go so far as to say that the ‘bounce’ is going to have to get a whole lot bigger: for Leeds is planning 2,300 more houses in Aireborough before 2028,  whilst Bradford wants 3,408 more houses built between Menston and Addingham. That is 5,708 houses, with a increase in population of over 11,500 along the A65 – the same as adding the whole of Catterick Garrison to our area – maybe with Army cuts that is the idea !!

The positive answer to this is for local people to start organizing their ‘get up and go’ and producing their own neighbourhood development plan to place-make.  Something, we can now do under the 2011 Localism Act.   Aireborough, Otley, Horsforth, and Ilkely are all in the process of doing just that.

More information about neighbourhood planning is on the WARD website, and for anyone interested in place-making with  the Aireborough Neighbourhood Forum you should contact marketing@WARDyorkshire.org.

Yorkshire in Bloom – by Chris Parapia

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Assessors Peter and Christine (in the middle) from the It’s Your Neighbourhood Category of Britain in Bloom

On Wednesday 11th July “Friends of Parkinson’s Park” was visited by “Yorkshire in Bloom” judges Peter and Christine  as part of the “Its Your Neighbourhood” initiative which has been established by the Royal Horticultural Society.

The judges were accompanied round Parkinson’s Park by Chris, Barbara and Josie and spent over an hour looking at the park, asking questions about the work we have done and our plans for the future.

We particularly concentrated on how we have involved the local community, including the developers, local council and councillors and how we had successfully recruited over 40 “Friends” Continue reading →

Solving the Puzzle of the Wall

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Renewed

On the first warm day for months,  Colin Alexander, Crawford Smith and Martyn Smith, of the Otley & Yorkshire Dales branch of the Dry Stone Walling Association set out to complete a complex puzzle. How to rebuild the tumbled wall at the ‘sheepfold’ entrance?

Tumbled Down

“There are many ways it can be done,  it’s finding one that works”, said Martyn.   The gentlemen were particularly hard pressed with this wall,  as not all of the stone was still lying around.   As this is a traditionally built wall, the batter, or slope of the wall, is a key feature.  The A shape of the wall means the stones get smaller as they go up, and this shape is a crucial part of the structural strength – a vertical wall would topple over much more quickly, as the stones settle.

The puzzle was solved by building the wall on a small platform,  and then shaping the top in a U,  “so that you’ve got a dress gallery to watch the sunsets”, quipped Crawford,  “you’ll be able to set up the stalls the other side”.   Continue reading →

A Salute to the 15th Airedale Scouts from the House of Commons

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Poster Boy for Scouting !

A big, big, BIG thank you to the boys and girls, Scout leader Keith Park, and, especially, Group Scout Leader Maureen Cooper of the 15th Airedale Scouts, for coming to spend their Scout Community Week time on the Park.   As we make our case with Leeds City Council, to have the Park officially listed as a community ‘green’ asset, rather than potential housing land,  you have played a vital part in helping us do that.

Thank you as well,  to all the Friends who turned out to help improve the entrances; the work of digging out nettles, hedge garlic, and brambles, along with old concrete and clinker was not easy – it was, perhaps,  fortunate it was neither a hot, nor a wet day. Continue reading →

Park Maintenance

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Rosebay Willowherb Jungle

The weather is warming (from time to time !!) and the rain if falling;  perfect conditions for weeds to regrow in the Park.   We are very aware of the need to get a maintenance regime in place, and are currently negotiating with Bellway to achieve this as quickly as possible.

In the meantime Pudsey Landscapes will be back week commencing 14th May,  to finish off the last jobs in the regeneration eg steps for the Greenshaw Terrace entrance,  clearing away compost, and generally tidying up.