Royal Park School: Squatters to Leaseholders
Tagged as: free_spacesNeighbourhoods: leeds ls6
On Wednesday 5th of Jan the council had a meeting to decide the fate of Royal Park School. With three bidders aiming to take control of the building the council agreed to lease School to the community group Royal Park Community Consortium (RPCC). This is marks the end of a 6 year community campaign where at one point the community squatted the building in 2009. The group started as 7 people writing letters but since the building was squatted RPCC now has over 300 members and 10 people on the management committee, RPCC came on "light years" since squatting the building and admit that it was this event that made the lease possible.
See inital article when the building was squatted, the eviction, a video about the campaign.



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Royal Park Primary School has been a feature of Leeds since the late 19th century. It is not suitable to be a listed building and protected from demolition. The School was closed down in 2004 with the local community frustrated in their efforts to put the building to better use. Leeds City Council’s Asset Management took control of the building. The council decided to hand the building to Rushbond PLC who were to convert the building into flats for the elderly. Rushbond PLC pull out 18 months later.
In July 2009 the lead from the roof was removed by thieves and nothing was done. With water damage slowly destroying the building the community acted and squatted Royal Park School. They gained much support from ex teachers and pupils alike. During the time the building was squatted the group:
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Made safe broken windows;
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Cleared debris from floors;
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Removed flammable liquids;
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Made the gas supply safe;
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Tidied the school yard and made flower tubs ready for planting;
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Completed some roof repairs.
“There’s nothing in the area to bind the community together any more,” says Ted Winter, a former pupil. He and 20 others squatted in the building in November to highlight its plight and clean it up, before being removed by the police. “If not used as a school, it could be retained for the community. It’s derelict and has been vandalised but it’s a perfectly good building. It could be restored and brought to life.”
The council took the squatters to court and in a packed courtroom the judge evicted the squatters. After being evicted the court awarded £3 000 legal costs to the council. Even with this set back many people became involved and energised. The group grow from less than ten people writing letters and being ignored to 300 members collectively submitting a professional and successful bid after many hours of work. The council agreed that RPCC had come on "light years".
The Royal Park Consortium now has untill August to raise £750 000 for phase 0 and 1 to be completed which would mean the building is safe for people to use, phase 0, and rooms are able to be rented out, phase 1. The later phases require over one million pounds.
During the council meeting today the matter of the £3 000 came up with the chair of the council meeting suggesting that the group paid the costs as they were clearly, "very resourceful individuals", whereas the Green councillor suggested that the fees could be paid out of the work that the group did whilst they occupied the building.
Additions
Royal Park School Open Meeting
Meeting - Saturday 15 January at the Burley Lodge Community Centre at 2pm
As some of you will already know, we're currently celebrating after having finally won the battle to get Royal Park School handed over to the community.
Our plans will see the disused building transformed into a multi-use community centre, with space for local businesses and community groups, a large performance space, enterprise centre, community garden and more.
Now it's time for everyone who cares about this building to get involved and help us make the project a reality. We need help in all sorts of areas, from fundraising to construction, and there are volunteer roles for everyone regardless of experience.
If you want to get involved or just want to find out more about the project, please come along to our open meeting on Saturday 15 January at the Burley Lodge Centre at 2pm.
Royal Park School All Day Celebration / Fundraiser
Sunday, January 16 at 2:00pm - Midnight
Brudenell Social Club
Live music, Dj's, Kids activities, info stalls, cakes and more!
You can find out how to get involved, there will be set areas for people to sign up and help with! eg. press publicity, grant writing, community outreach, volunteer coordinator etc. etc.
Line up will include...
Tatu Carreta
Ewan McLennan
Dexter Dextrous & The Finger Smiths
Klez Dennis
Miranda & The Croc
The Red Pills
The Clare Cameron Band
Dj’s: Quip, Jedi Pete & Wolfie
Entertainment from The Ladybird Collective
.....plus much more TBC !
£3 entry before 8 - £4 after..
all proceeds to Royal Park Community Consortium
More good news
Shortly following this decision, the council also approved the asset transfer of Woodhouse Community centre to Oblong ltd.
We are confident of our path from here - securing funding, renovating part of the building and continuing to provide services.