This is a petition to Leeds City Council Parks and Countryside for the reopening and improvement of the public toilets found in Woodhouse Moor Park (AKA Hyde Park).

Despite not being classed as a ‘major park’ by Leeds City Council, Woodhouse Moor Park as a ‘community park’ sees an enormous amount of footfall. According to a Leeds Parks Report (2018): “Woodhouse Moor, a community park in North West Leeds, was the second most visited park in the city, with over three million adult visits estimated in the preceding year.”

The second most visited park in the city of Leeds does not have functioning public toilets. 

Currently, the lack of public facilities results in the unsafe and unhygienic practises for people that use the skatepark (or general park) for prolonged periods;

• The skatepark itself is being used as a toilet: under ramps are being used as urinals due to necessity. This practice is easier for men than it is for women, and women are currently having to leave their activity session if they need the toilet. 
• People are having to find toilets in nearby shops, cafes or pubs. This sometimes comes at a price and mostly is frowned upon and unfair on local businesses. 
• There is nowhere within the skatepark’s close radius that has running water. This means that water for drinking needs to be bought, and water for injuries (grazes and cuts gained at the skatepark) cannot be easily washed. This also ties into another park issue: litter. The more bought drinks = more plastic bottles =more litter.

According to the same report, “park-users aged 19–24 visited fewer parks across the city; nearly half of this group identified one park – namely Woodhouse Moor – as their main park. They were least likely to report pleasant experiences of visiting their park, more likely to avoid their park at certain times (47% compared with 26% for all respondents) and perceive it to be less safe”.

Obviously opening public toilets raises its own set of concerns around public safety, and we are keen to make sure there are conversations around this should we be successful in this petition. However, we strongly feel as though redoing the toilets that currently stand in the car park area will be an improvement in the way park goers feel about the environment. 

We understand the constant maintenance a public toilet such as this needs, and are therefore writing this petition to request the funding and consideration of these much needed facilities. If these facilities can be made available in other parks that aren’t as visited, we believe that the same should be afforded to Woodhouse Moor. 

This petition is being launched by RWTG (@rwtgleeds), a community group aimed at inspiring and encouraging women to take up skateboarding in Leeds. 

Source: https://futureofparks.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2018/03/Leeds-Parks-Survey-Full-Report.pdf