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Park life

"No matter how small your garden is, you should always set aside a couple of acres for woodland"- Quote from Lord Rothschild

You know, I think Lord Rothschild was onto something.

Until recently this tit-bit of advice has been of little use to me but now I feel it comes into its own having, as I do, 700 acres of beautifully kept garden and woodland in front of my house. Granted, I do share this garden with 715,000 other joint tenants.

This summer I am determined to get out from behind my keyboard and start taking some time to enjoy Roundhay Park. I’m keen to challenge the adage that people never visit places on their doorsteps, and as I type this article I can think of nowhere more pleasant I’d rather go for a stroll on these light evenings.

Keeping the park in its current condition is no small task and behind the scenes there is a completely dedicated team of staff. The type of people who I’ve seen on their days off coming in to clear snow from paths and generally going that extra mile. In addition to this we are lucky to have the Friends of Roundhay Park, an active organisation made up of volunteers who lobby hard for improvements in the park and regularly roll up their sleeves to do their bit, even creating their own garden. Well worth supporting, if fancy becoming a member.

If you heard a loud sound like a rush of wind recently it was most likely the collective sigh of relief from three Roundhay Ward Councillors when the Lakeside Café re-opened. We have also seen the re-launch of the Tropical World Café now refurbished (with decent, permanent toilets) and re-named as “Explorer’s Café”. The Visitor Centre has been open for a little while and if you haven’t been already, I’d say it is well worth a visit.

But there is one piece of the jigsaw missing. The Mansion. I cannot think of another subject on which I am more often grilled. This isn’t surprising considering the length of time since Gilpins left and the doors shut. Since then a new roof has been fitted, the exterior has been renovated, the Visitor Centre has been created, the education rooms built…. But the thing everyone wants to know is when an operator will open the doors for food and drinks.

The Council is now nearing the end of its second full round of tendering to award the lease. This time round we have several serious operators who have put in bids to run the Mansion and we have secured financial assistance to improve the interior, which was previously putting off potential operators. There has been a month of slip but a decision will be taken on 27^th August and that has now been publicly announced in the Evening Post. After this it is full steam ahead for the winning operator to restore the interior to a standard befitting this listed building and to get the doors open.

I’m looking look forward to the day when we hear the collective sigh of 715,000 people as the doors open and we get back to business as usual at the Mansion, only this time with the building beautifully restored.

All the best

Cllr Matthew Lobley

Roundhay Ward Conservative Councillor

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