Courtesy: Guardian Leeds


Leeds Girls High School: Residents back community sports centre bid

* Inner city community supports idea for more sports facilities in area
* Map of area and interactive timeline for Leeds Girls High site


A disused Leeds sports hall and playing pitch should be brought back into community use, a public meeting heard last night.

Local residents packed into Wrangthorn Church Hall in Hyde Park last night to back a proposal to take over the old Leeds Girls High School playing field and adjacent sports hall off Chestnut Avenue, and to allow the community to use them.

The site is unaffected by the recent controversial planning applications to build on some of the Leeds Girls High site, which will be heard at a public inquiry in June.

Residents heard how Futsal Leeds, which promotes indoor football, and WR Active Learning – a coaching agency that provides physical activities for youngsters – are hoping to make the facilities available for community use.

Sue Buckle, of the South Headingley Residents' Association, told meeting organisers that their idea had the backing of much of the community. She said the five local primary schools had little or no green space and would welcome the use of the facilities. Buckle added:

"The area south of Victoria Road contributes some of the worst deprivation in Leeds. In places it is more densely populated than Tower Hamlets in London and Moss Side in Manchester. Some residents don't even have a yard to go and play football in.

"There is a real need for what you are proposing. We need to attract families to the area for a sustainable future. A community needs open space and sports facilities - we don't have any, it's a car journey to Holt Park or Kirkstall leisure centres at present and not everyone has cars. Woodhouse Moor is the most intensively used parkland in Leeds but isn't really a sports area.

"This isn't just a nice idea, it is a desperate need for people now and for the future."


Councillor gives support
The idea also received the backing of Headingley councillor Martin Hamilton. He said:

"We are all frustrated that a perfectly good building has been left empty for too long. There is a severe a lack of playing pitches and sports facilities at local primary schools and it seems crazy that we have got facilities at Chestnut Avenue and people want to use it."

Hamilton warned that buying the land would probably require a 'seven-figure sum' if the school wanted its full economic value, but said the school may be prepared to accept a 'playing pitch value' for the land, which would be less.


'Very early stage'
Futsal Leeds project co-ordinator Martin Oxley said the proposals were at a very early stage and depended on the school's willingness to negotiate and the ability to raise the money to buy or lease the land. He said the group would need access to the site to see the extent of work needing to be carried out, particularly on the swimming pool.

He said the facilities would be used by schools, the disabled and the elderly for a variety of activities, ranging from football to bowls. He added:

"A community trust could have use of the building either through ownership or lease run on a not-for-profit basis. It is a site that is waiting to be developed."

It was agreed to hold discussions with Leeds Girls High School, which moved out of the site to Alwoodley in 2008, in a bid to progress the project.


Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com