“Scared”, “Intimidated”, “Unsafe”. These quotes describe the community’s experiences of using Crookes Valley Park in the dark. We are petitioning the council to finally change that, prioritising safety with pathway lighting. By signing you join us in supporting safe access because you recognise that this unlit park has a serious risk of sexual violence and drownings for the many who travel through or use our green space after sunset.

COVID-19 has taught everybody to make use of our local green spaces. Crookes Valley Park is a precious space that is enjoyed by the local community. As a park in the inner city, it is relied on as an escape for people in the surrounding densely populated terraces and University flats who have little to no outdoor space to safely socialise, exercise and walk dogs. With a play park, bowling greens, table tennis and a pub, the park is enjoyed by families, students and the elderly alike.  Unsurprisingly, many including the Sheffield City Council have noticed that the popularity of Crookes Valley Park means facilities could be expanded to increase its revenue. However, encouraging even greater use of the park while not investing in safety measures is negligent and irresponsible at best, callous at worst. 

Please note the following has references to sexual assault.

After it goes dark, the park suddenly becomes inaccessible to most. Widespread fear is unsurprising given the recent nearby history of the parks. In January of 2017, a 21-year-old victim woke up in the adjacent Weston Park, with no memory of what had happened to her. The police investigated the incident as a serious sexual assault. This horrific event led to an online petition which urgently called Sheffield Council to install extra lighting. While some lights were achieved, the adjacent sister park Crookes Valley Park remains unlit. This is inexcusable as there is no argument that Crookes Valley is the safer park; according to data.police.UK, in Crookes Valley Park there was at least six reported violent crimes (includes offences against the person such as common assaults, grievous bodily harm and sexual offences)  and another five on/near Mushroom Lane from January to October 2021. 

Undoubtedly wider change is required to erase the issue of violent attacks, but the council has the opportunity to quite literally provide light in future situations and perhaps even prevent them. Path lighting acts as a crime deterrent because it increases the chance an offender will be seen by a witness as well as increasing the likelihood of recognition. Furthermore, lighting the park would ensure more people are comfortable visiting the park, this would, in turn, create a community support network where everyone looks out for each other (community surveillance). And yet, despite being given the opportunity, the council has failed to act. In early 2021, Our bodies Our Streets gathered over 3000 signatures on a petition with a series of demands to Sheffield Council. Their key demand was better lighting in parks to help women and minority groups feel safer. Despite the now 5,600 signatures, moving presentations given to the council and a well-run campaign, responsibility was waved and headlines such as “Sheffield council warn ‘exercise in pairs after dark’ as thousands demand better park lighting” (The Star) displayed the dismal lack of concrete progress. And in fact, the concrete was not broken at all with not a single light installed. 

Violent attacks are not the only serious danger in the unlit Crookes Valley Park. The ‘Old Great Dam’ (the body of water in the centre) is the only one of ten reservoirs (built between Crookes and Upperthorpe in the 18th century) not to be filled in and according to Friends of Crookesmoor Parks, it was built with a whopping 21 million gallon capacity. Sheffield City Council’s review of whether swimming should be allowed in ‘Old Great Dam’, concluded that “There are many risks that mean the lake is not suitable for casual swimming, including water quality and testing, the depth at around 30ft in the centre, unknown objects under the surface, cold water temperatures and very limited views from the main road that could delay reporting of incidents”. If the council can identify the risks to people intending to swim, how can they not recognise the risk to anyone using the park at night with the misfortune to slip or stumble near this entirely unlit dangerous water? Surely, with one death from drowning in very recent memory, we should do all that we can to minimise the risk of another tragedy. 

Some people reading this might be thinking ‘just lock the gates after dark then, it's quicker and it's cheaper!’ but there are many reasons this would actually be robbing the community. Anyone who has walked the incredibly narrow top end of Mushroom Lane can attest to how unsafe it feels as a pedestrian (it allows a driver to cut out the snarly University Roundabout and cars often fly down because of the one-way system). In contrast, the park paths are perfect for cycling, much safer than roads and one can get from Crookes Valley Road to the Weston Park building in minutes. This has resulted in Crookes Valley Park serving as a cut-through for environmentally friendly commuters, especially those who work in the hospital (open 24/7) and live in Crookesmoor/ Crookes. There should be pathway lighting for safety alone but surely while trying to make our beautiful green city environmentally ‘greener’ it is senseless not to make this small change to allow an increase of green commutes on winter mornings/afternoons, evenings and nights. Furthermore, many students who study at Western Bank Library (closes 9pm) and the Information Commons (open 24/7) find going through the park to be the most convenient way home and, many utilise the park the short cut from the adjacent sports facilities (close 10pm on weekdays), Crooksmoor, Crooks and Broomhill in search of the City Centre and Kelham Island’s offerings of pubs, bars and clubs. A route that will likely have even more traffic in years to come with the new Social Sciences building.  With sunset at 4pm, the low visibility means these people are risking their safety and while you might argue ‘it only shaves a few minutes off just walk around the park at night’- what happens when your phone navigation is set to find the quickest route leads you through the park? Be it they’re in a rush to get home, new to the city, or emboldened by a pint, how many people do you think stop to weigh the risks against the extra time to get home and decide to reroute?

‘Who else stands to gain from pathway lighting?’ Well, besides anyone who commutes, jogs or dog walks through? Just about everybody. When installing pathway lighting we could ensure it illuminates the playpark making it accessible to supervised children on dark winter afternoons. Additionally, the park is incredibly important for those attending Sheffield Children's Hospital or Royal Hallamshire Hospital as staff, patients or support. Care is given throughout the evening, night and early mornings therefore there will always be people under a lot of stress that need to escape the bustling building and go for a walk in a quiet natural environment. Then there is the benefit to local businesses, passers-by who feel more comfortable walking through Crookesmoor Park in the late afternoon might be more tempted by a coffee at Ambluo or Chapter One, or a pint at Dam House.

While there is floodlighting for the games pitches next to the park, it is understandable that residents looking onto the park might have some concerns. There is no argument for floodlights, we only need focused and directed lighting that makes the main pathways and the edge of the dam visible. There are many ways we could ensure the lighting would not disturb: making the lights motion sensor (technology already in use at the University of Sheffield accommodation), and utilising local experts to expertly place and space lights. Additionally, due to the forward-thinking call by Sheffield City Council to transition the city to LED street lighting, we have low-cost efficient lighting which has a control system (that is already used by the council to adjust the times and intensity of lights on individual lampposts). With this technology we already have invested in we could easily find the optimum light level for all. 

Our well-used park cannot be an afterthought, we cannot wait for the next horrifying publicised incident to try to scare our representatives into action. By adding pathway lights the council will continue Sheffield’s proud tradition of investing in and enjoying our exceptional green spaces. Lighting the park will extend opportunities for sport, play, exercise, commerce, and provide environmentally friendly commuter routes, but most importantly it will enable our community to keep itself safe.

Link to our survey:

https://forms.gle/3A8gbyVTCSTXz86U7

Signing the petition is the most important thing but if you wish to take a step further, please complete our survey to find out how you use the park! Please be aware that anonymised data and comments collected might be used to improve and bolster our petition.

Photo Credit: 

Sheffield - Dam House, cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Dave Bevis, geograph.org.uk/p/3726244

The use of this photo does not imply the licensor endorses this petition.