Residents have decided to take action following concerns over the state of a York park.
Locals have joined together to form ‘Friends of Hull Road Park’, which is set to launch this weekend at its first official meeting.
The group hopes to restore the charm to the area.
The initiative was started by Andrew Mortimer, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Hull Road ward.
He had hoped to form the group for a number of years, however there wasn’t enough initial interest behind the idea.
This was up until autumn last year, as residential concern were raised over incidents taking place in the park, particularly around the beck.
Alongside this, a petition was started by Hull Road resident, David Alexander in April last year.
‘Restore Hull Road Park’s Beck to Its Former Glory’ received 682 signatures.
The petition read: “Let us preserve this piece of nature that holds so many memories for us locals while creating a safe environment for future generations too.”
With increased advocacy from the community, Friends of Hull Road Park began to form.
The group is free to join, and welcomes anyone who enjoys the local park and cares about its upkeep.
They’re looking to work alongside residents, City of York Council, as well as other local services to contribute to the future development of the park.
They’re also keen for local involvement with any of the decision making.
Andrew spoke to YorkMix about this weekend’s meeting, and the main aim behind it.
“Anyone is welcome, we want people to come along and talk about how they’d like to see the park developed and things the friends group might be able to do to help that happen,” he said.
Hull Road Park is owned and managed by City of York Council, who have agreed to work collaboratively over the first 12 months to help establish the group.
To spread the word, over 2,000 leaflets have been distributed to homes in the area, posters have been put up, and posts shared across social media.
After years of working towards this, Andrew hopes for a reasonable turnout on Saturday.
He said: “We had a public meeting about two and a half years ago with a few people there, but there just wasn’t at that stage enough interest to get a group going that would be meaningful.
“I think there is this time, and we’ve certainly had a wider range of people who’ve come along to the kind of informed meetings we’ve had so far, and they seem to be keen to take this forward.
“Hopefully, collectively, once we get things set up on Saturday, then we’ll be able to go ahead, because the group has a great opportunity to access funds, it’s a way of getting some extra money invested into the park.”
YorkMix spoke to Hull Road Ward councillor, Anna Baxter, who’s excited to see what comes from the meeting this weekend.
She said: “Ward councillors have been trying to establish a ‘Friends of’ group for Hull Road Park for some years, so are delighted to see this is now happening and we look forward to attending its first meeting this weekend.
“Friends of’ groups are successfully working on parks and other green spaces around the city, which highlights the potential of what we can achieve in Hull Road Park.
“As Labour councillors representing Hull Road ward, we will always engage and work with any local groups who care about their area and are working constructively to improve them.
“We look forward to hearing from volunteers what they want to achieve and how we as local councillors can work alongside them to make improvements to the park”.
A green flag accreditation is also hoped for Hull Road Park, an international benchmark standard for parks and green spaces.
One of the requirements for the award is for the space to have a friends group, so up until now, it’s been unattainable.
“Hopefully, once we get the friends group set up, that will help us work with the council towards getting the green flag award,” Andrew added.
If you’d like to attend the Friends of Hull Road Park meeting, the information is as follows:
- Saturday 8 February
- 2:00 PM
- Tang Hall WM Club, Hull Road, York