MP starts petition calling for new playground

A Leeds MP has started a petition calling for a new playground to be built in the city.

Labour's Katie White is campaigning for a play area in Adel, saying it was "ridiculous" an area of that size did not have one.

Sarah Carmody, who lives in Adel with her eight-year-old daughter, backed White's efforts, saying she had to drive three miles (5km) to access a playground in either Bramhope or Headingley.

Leeds City Council said it was "always keen ... to explore ways to provide high-quality, accessible, sustainable and inclusive play opportunities in communities across the city".

White, who grew up in Adel, said: "I think with a community the size of Adel with the number of families, the number of spaces, it is quite ridiculous that we have not got one already.

"Having to get in the car or get on the bus, whether it is down to Headingley or up to Bramhope, people are having to travel that far just to go on the swings and that is really difficult."

Speaking to the BBC at Beckett Park in Headingley, Carmody said: "It would completely change the after school element because we don't come here on a weekday because the traffic is so bad and it takes too long to drive here.

"There are points where we have come here twice, once on a Saturday, once on a Sunday and we are looking at 45 minutes driving throughout that.

"If there was one on the doorstep or within close proximity we would come more."

She said the lack of a playground also made it harder to reduce screen time for some families.

"It is a huge problem," she said.

"It doesn't just stop social interaction, things like speech, language, normal childhood development is being halted by continuous screen time and for a kid to be able to pop outside, meet up with their neighbours and hang around the park, it is life changing and it gives so much freedom."

White said a number of sites had been identified in Adel and she wanted to work with the community to "figure out which is the best", adding that money had also been made available for the project.

A council spokesperson said: "The council is committed, through its long-standing Child Friendly Leeds programme and other investments and initiatives, to making Leeds the best place in the country for children and young people to grow up in."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.