On the 2nd September 2008, at a meeting of Leeds City Council’s Executive Board, in connection with the anti social behaviour taking place on Woodhouse Moor, Councillor Keith Wakefield, the leader of the Labour group, asked Councillor John Procter, who has charge of the Leisure Department, if the council has sufficient resources to enforce the byelaws. Councillor Procter’s response was, “ No, we don’t have the people, and haven’t for the last 50 years to enforce the byelaws. That’s the sad reality”.
But then, on the 10th September 2008, it was revealed in a Yorkshire Evening Post article that Councillor Procter’s department spends £119,000 each year providing security at a single leisure centre in east Leeds. The article said that most of the money goes on providing car park security. Councillor Procter was quoted as saying “The guards protect people’s vehicles to try to persuade them to use the facilities”.
Earlier today I visited that leisure centre. There were six cars parked in the car park and no sign of any security guards. The absence of any kind of security presence reminded me of the barbeque consultation and Leeds City Council’s willingness to hand over our council tax to private companies in exchange for empty promises.
The fact that Leeds City Council can waste so much money on car park security shows once again that it considers car parks, tarmac and cars to be more important than parks.