PEOPLE power has been put forward as vital to the successful maintenance of council-owned parks in Aireborough and Wharfedale.

Horsforth councillor Chris Townsley (Lib Dem) wants to see all Leeds City Council owned parks have their own committee made up of

members of the public to put forward ideas and work

alongside the council.

And he says parks like Hall Park in Horsforth, which has its own Friends of Hall Park, should be put forward as the ideal for others to follow.

He said: "In my own area, the Friends of Hall Park have played a valuable role in maintaining interest in, and use of, Hall Park.

"Elsewhere in the city, other groups have been set up to maintain and improve use of our parks.

"Surely, one of the first steps we should take in planning their future use is to involve local people in their management."

Coun Townsley, who sits on the council's parks and

cemeteries working party, is hoping that his ideas will be taken up by the working party as it puts together a strategy for the city's parks.

"Parks and other greenfield sites in Leeds provide green lungs for the whole of the city. They need to be managed

sympathetically with the involvement of those who can use them on a day-to- day

basis.

"We need to ensure that our parks are run in cooperation with local people, not just for the council's convenience."

Coun Townsley would like to see all parks including those in Otley, Guiseley , Rawdon and Yeadon have their own groups of residents keen to work with the council.

"It would be wonderful for every park to have a Friends of group. People should have a say in the running of their parks," he said.

A spokesman for Leeds City Council's leisure services department said the council's Parks and Cemeteries Working Party is considering introducing management plan which could be used for all parks and countryside areas in Leeds.

"It was agreed that Leisure Services Parks and Countryside officers will examine the way any such pro forma can be used, taking a sample of six parks in the city and using them for a pilot scheme to test the viability of the plan. Cemeteries may also be included if the scheme proves successful."

The spokesman added the pilot scheme would go before the working party in November and if successful, would go on to the council's recreation services committee for approval.

Councillor Philip Towler, chairman of the council's recreation services committee, said there was a lot of value to be gained from looking at different solutions for common problems and preparing strategies for future management of sites.

He said: "However, we must stress that this process takes time and cannot be rushed.

"As the city has more than 300 parks and open spaces to manage, we want to make sure we get it right."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.