Headingley is ‘Leeds Number One Suburb’. Yet the neighbourhood is subject to very particular pressures. For this reason, local residents, with the support of Leeds City Council, have produced a Neighbourhood Design Statement (NDS) for our area, intended to sustain its distinctive character. Its purpose is to help to realise the first Strategic Aim of Leeds’ Unitary Development Plan, “protecting existing good environment.” In doing so, it supplements city-wide planning policies, with reference to a particular neighbourhood. As a Supplementary Planning Document, the NDS builds on saved and emerging planning policy, and thereby contributes to Leeds’ emerging Local Development Framework.
Headingley at the turn of the millennium experienced its greatest demographic upheaval since the expansion of the neighbourhood as a suburb in the nineteenth century. As a result of the demand for accommodation by the students of Leeds’ expanding universities, the majority of the settled residents were replaced by a transient (and seasonal) population. This upheaval has had an impact on every aspect of the community, including the quality of the built environment, the street scene, open spaces and their management. The Headingley & Hyde Park NDS is a response to this environmental impact.
The present document is a Statement whose preparation was led by local residents, and is adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document by Leeds City Council. It is based upon detailed observation by residents and wide consultation with residents and other stakeholders, and it summarises what it is they value about the character of their local environment. We trust that it will lead to a renewed appreciation of the quality of our neighbourhood. It is concerned with the Neighbourhood focussed on Central Headingley, and including South Headingley, Headingley Hill and Hyde Park. The NDS is a material consideration, prepared by the local community, for any proposals for future development in their Neighbourhood.
Foreword, Headingley & Hyde Park Neighbourhood Design Statement, 2010
Dr Richard Tyler, Chair, Headingley & Hyde Park NDS Steering Group (2007-2010)
The Steering Group comprised representatives of South Headingley Community Association, North Hyde Park Neighbourhood Association, Cardigan Triangle, Turnways Residents Association and Headingley Network.
