New pesticide position statement

National Picnic Week is between 19^th and 27^th June – Here’s a chance to show off our green spaces!

As a national pastime every summer, National Picnic Week aims to provide picnic tips, picnic hotspots, and everything surrounding picnics to help the nation roll out their picnic rugs and embrace British summertime wherever you are.

If you are involved please send us your photos!

LPGSF supports Love Leeds Parks.

Love Leeds Parks is a charity which supports community-led enhancements to public green spaces in Leeds. The Forum is represented on the Board of Trustees by Forum Chair, Lynda Kitching. The charity has been set up to enable local people, visitors and businesses to support our green spaces so that they can be enjoyed by this and future generations. The ‘Give a Little Back’ fundraising campaign will provide grants for community groups and targeted projects across Leeds. www.loveleedsparks.org.uk

o For non urgent issues and to pass on information, call West Yorkshire Police on 101.
o In an emergency (if a crime is in progress or you think the offenders are near by), call 999.
o To give information anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
o Specific information can be reported to local police using nel.npt@westyorkshire.pnn.police.uk

You can also use the WYP website which provides online forms and useful
information https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/report-it
Please be careful if you gather information, please keep your distance from offenders, please stay
safe.

We support Plantlife’s ‘No-mow May’ campaign

Plantlife tells us that ‘simply not cutting your grass this month can result in enough nectar for 10 times more bees and other pollinators! The highest production of nectar-producing flowers was on grass cut every 4 weeks.’

Parks and green space in general are protected by planning policy as set out in the core strategy and in particular policies g3 to g6.  These policies not only seek to protect and improve existing green space but also provide for new parks and green space in areas where it is deficient or where there is significant growth.  Many parks in the outer areas of the city are further protected as they form part of the greenbelt.

The Council has already participated in undertaking Fields in Trust ‘Deeds of Dedication’ for a number of parks and green spaces in Leeds, usually to coincide with national celebrative or commemorative events.  Most notably this involved the designation of 8 sites (approved by Executive Board in 2012) as part of the ‘Queen Elizabeth II Fields’ scheme which celebrated the Diamond Jubilee, London Olympic and Paralympic Games and 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Whilst the fee for registration of the deed with the Land Registry may be small, there are legal costs and considerable officer time associated with establishing ownership, determining the land boundary, researching existing restrictions or covenants and then dealing with potential issues that may arise.  Any decision to undertake a Fields in Trust Deed of Dedication must therefore take account of the cost involved weighed against the benefit that such additional protection could provide.  In most cases if funds are made available then the preference is to allocate them to physical site improvements rather than incur legal costs associated with further protection.

The Love Leeds Parks Festival will take place online and in parks between the 8^th and 16^th August and will be the culmination of our Give a Little Back to Local Parks and Green Spaces campaign.

It will include five core days of online events, each with a different theme highlighting the importance of parks to our daily lives; nature, sports, discussion, heritage and play.

The following groups won awards in the 2019 round:

Beeston in Bloom

Boston Spa Parish Council

Collingham Beck Wood Project

DAMASQ

Friends of Cross Flatts Park

Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods

Halton in Bloom

Hyde Park Source

Kirkstall In Bloom

Leeds Coppice Workers

Ouzlewell Green in Bloom Group

Rodley Nature Reserve Trust Ltd

The Conservation Volunteers