When a council acts against its own citizens

Leeds City Council closed Royal Park School five years ago. Since then, it’s allowed the school to be vandalised, and has done nothing to repair the resulting damage. Two weeks ago, local residents moved into the school to prevent further deterioration and to make repairs. Everyone in the area rallied round, including a local firm which offered free of charge, to replace lead that had been taken from the roof, provided the council returned it. But instead of giving back the lead, the council handed residents a summons to appear in court. And so, on Monday, residents were ordered to quit the building, which they did the next day. The council also asked for, and was awarded, costs against the residents.

Royal Park School eviction story
The last items are removed from the school by the occupiers

The year that the council closed Royal Park School, 2004, was also the year that it produced a document called “Vision for Leeds 2004 to 2020”. How does the council reconcile its actions over Royal Park School with the promise on page 27 of this document to “involve local people in planning the future of their areas”.

And how does evicting residents from the school and asking for costs against them help to achieve any of these aims contained in the Leeds Strategic Plan :

Increase the number of local people engaged in activities to meet community needs and improve the quality of life for local residents.
Increase the number of local people that are empowered to have a greater voice and influence over local decision making and a greater role in public service delivery.
Enable a robust and vibrant voluntary, community and faith sector to facilitate community activity and directly deliver services.
Increase the sense of belonging and pride in local neighbourhoods that help to build cohesive communities.

Whilst it may be true that the “Vision for Leeds 2004 to 2020” and the “Leeds Strategic Plan” aren’t worth the paper they’re written on, it’s also likely to be the case that producing the two documents cost more than it would have cost to give Royal Park School to the community.

(photos courtesy of Yorkshire Post Newspapers)

The Empire strikes back

Leeds City Council has allowed Royal Park School to lie empty for five years. During this time, they’ve allowed the building to fall into disrepair. Lead was stolen from the roof five months ago, and the council did nothing about it. But now that local people have intervened to save the building, Leeds City Council has moved swiftly to evict them. Legal papers have been served on the residents occupying the building requiring them to appear in court.

This isn’t just about Leeds City Council’s contempt for the people of Hyde Park and Woodhouse. If the residents who’ve taken action succeed in reclaiming and restoring the building, everybody will be able to see that the current Leeds City Council is redundant, and worse than that, an obstacle in the path of local democracy and progress. So we can be certain that the ruling coalition won’t rest until it’s done everything in its power to make the school derelict again.

For further information, please see the official Royal Park Community Consortium website.

(Photo courtesy of drgillybean)

Royal Park School jumble sale

I arrived at the school at midday, just minutes after the jumble sale had begun. Already the hall was busy with people browsing through piles of jumble. This amazing turnout at what for many people is lunchtime, shows how much this building means to local people, and how determined they are to save it. Whilst the punters browsed through piles of jumble, a small army of workmen and women worked tirelessly in the background, helping to restore the building so that it can once again become the centre of this closely knit community.

Watching all this activity, I thought about the disconnect that exists between Leeds City Council and the people of Hyde Park and Woodhouse. We pay our council tax like everyone else, but what do we get in return ? A local authority which ignores our wishes, sells off assets to developers at bargain basement prices, spends large sums of money on its own pet projects, whilst at the same time cutting services to local people.

This train of thought was ended by a friend telling me that I really must take a look at the cake stall. Laid out on a pink table cover was an array of the most delicious looking home-made cakes. People who come along here this afternoon, will be glad they did for more reasons than one.

Message from the school

The local community has taken over Royal Park School in order to repair it, and to protect it from further vandalism. They have issued the following statement :

Save Our School

Royal Park Primary School was closed in 2004 by Leeds City Council.

On its closure our community was promised that it would be retained as badly needed community space.

Then, Leeds City Council’s Asset Management took over an intact working building.

After many rejected bids from the community (some of them having considerable funding attached to them) Asset Management chose the private and highly professional company Rushbond PLC to convert the school into badly needed old age pensioners flats . . . opposite the busiest, noisiest public houses in an area of predominantly young transient population !

As with most of the council’s big ideas it was a ‘foolproof’, watertight’ plan that fell through eighteen months later.

After Royal Park Consortium (RPCC), discovered that Rushbond PLC had pulled out of the deal, RPCC again approached the Asset Management team and made another bid on behalf of the community to utilise the building, and again were rejected – on the ground that RPCC had no track record and no finances (unlike Rushbond PLC).

RPCC always intended that, once in possession of the building, we would start to apply for funding – the chicken and egg dilemma !

Leeds City Council were one of the first councils to sign up to the asset transfer scheme, headed by the government, to help communities to take responsibility for their own destinies. Leeds City Council have not yet allowed any assets to be transferred into public ownership and questions have been asked in the House of Commons.

It was pointed out many times in meetings with the Asset Management team, that the intact, well-maintained, water-tight roof was one of the many assets of the building.

Five months ago, lead was taken from the roof of the building, not stolen, but just left in heaps in the playground. Even though the police were called, and each road approaching the school is monitored by cameras, nobody has been arrested or questioned. (You have to have a mighty set of ladders to get up to the roof !). The lead was taken by the council and, by all accounts, lies in a yard somewhere !

Asset Management have spent between £10,000 and £15,000 per year on security for the building, as well as carrying insurance for public liability. On its own estimate, it would cost £1,200,000 (before the lead was taken from the roof) to rectify the damage caused during the time that Asset Management has had custody of the building.

When RPCC enquired when the roof would be fixed, they were told the matter was in hand and the damage would be made good. Yet here we are at the end of autumn, with the cold wet months of winter still to come, and the school still has no roof.

Would you let weather in through the roofs of one of your assets, why would Leeds City Council ?

The council says “The Mission of the Council is to bring the benefits of a prosperous,vibrant and attractive city to all the people of Leeds”

I’m sick and tired of my council
tax being wasted !

But are you ?

Do we stand buy and watch the iconic building at the centre of our community become derelict, pulled down and replaced with….a supermarket….more student flats ?

What should we do ? What can you do ?

You can help us in a number of ways :

You can become a member of RPCC by attending one of their meetings and joining up (phone Sue for further details on 07796 784 018)
You can help to repair the building – clean it and maintain its grounds – donate food or building materials (phone Royal Park Primary School on 07910 887 294)
Arrange to become a sleeping-in watch person – help maintain building security (phone Royal Park Primary School on 07910 887 294)

Residents act to save Royal Park School

In June of this year, lead was stolen from the roof of Royal Park Primary School, allowing water to penetrate the building and damage its fabric. Already, plasterwork, paintwork, and a beautiful parquet floor have been damaged. In the face of Leeds City Council’s failure to replace the lead, or to protect the building, local residents have begun to repair the building themselves.

There’s to be a jumble sale at the school from 12 noon until 4pm on Sunday the 15th November with the proceeds going to the restoration fund. The occasion provides people with an opportunity not just to support efforts to save the school, but to see the unusually beautiful school interior with its cast iron banisters and unique first floor hall. Royal Park School is located at the junction of Queen’s Road and Royal Park Road.

Map showing the location of the school

Photos of the school

Yorkshire Evening Post article

Council vandalism

When it was decided to close Royal Park School, the ruling Labour group promised to retain the building for community use. But then in May 2004, the Lib Dems and Conservatives took power and failed to honour the pledge made that was made by their predecessors. And so the building has been allowed to lie empty for several years, and now, the council wants to demolish it.

Earlier this year, it was reported in the Yorkshire Evening Post that developers had demolished historic Elmfield Infants School in Morley. In his defence, the developer stated, “We had no other choice due to the vandalism of the building. If someone had been injured, there would have been problems for us as directors”.

The argument used by the developer to justify his action is identical to the argument being used by Leeds City Council to justify the proposed demolition of Royal Park School. What is being proposed here is legalised vandalism. Just because it’s Leeds City Council that’s instigating this and not a private developer doesn’t make it alright – it actually makes it worse. Leeds City Council should be using its resources to support the community in Hyde Park, not tearing it down.