Petition to 'save' Leazes Park from Newcastle United new stadium development signed by 11,000 people

Rumours are persisting that the Magpies could build a 65,000-capacity ground on the historic city centre green space, after months of speculation over whether the club should move to a new stadium or seek to refurbish St James’ Park.

While sources at the football club continue to stress that no final decision has been made on the preferred option, the prospect of building on Leazes Park has sparked worries among environmental activists.

Members of Save Newcastle Wildlife launched a petition last month which called for a referendum to be held on the idea.

As of Thursday lunchtime, that change.org petition had garnered more than 11,000 signatures – following a surge in support that had seen the number climb from around 6,000 just 24 hours earlier.

Save Newcastle Wildlife have said that building on the grade II listed Leazes Park, which is the oldest park in Newcastle having opened in 1873, would “set a dangerous precedent for parks and green spaces across the city, many of which are already struggling to make ends meet”.

It is expected that the campaigners will submit the petition to Newcastle City Council and ask for it to be debated at the local authority’s next full meeting, which is in June.

Petitions with more than 2,500 signatures can trigger a full council debate – however, that is not guaranteed.

The decision on whether to hold such a debate is at the discretion of the lord mayor of Newcastle.

The council’s guidance states that petitions to be debated “should usually not relate to individual planning applications”, though there has not been a formal planning application made for a new stadium at this stage.

Save Newcastle Wildlife’s petition states: “In 1857, 3,000 working people of Newcastle petitioned Newcastle City Council for ‘ready access to some open ground for the purpose of health and recreation’. In 1873, Leazes Park was opened for the people of Newcastle.

“Since then, millions of pounds of tax payer’s money has been spent on making Leazes Park a green and pleasant place for the people and wildlife of Newcastle.

“In more recent years, Leazes Park has hosted the Green Festival, the North East’s largest free environmental festival and has been cared for by the Friends of Leazes Park.

“There are more than 1,000 trees in the park, as well as shrubs and hedgerows, which provide food and shelter for insects and other wildlife including, bats, birds and hedgehogs.”

Similar opposition was raised in the 1990s, when NUFC scrapped plans to relocate from St James’ Park to a site on the Town Moor following a backlash from residents and pressure groups led by the Friends of Leazes Park.

But a fresh debate about the future of the park now comes at an intriguing time.

Leazes Park lost its prestigious green flag status last year and there have been accusations that it has been treated as a “cash cow” used to host music festivals that have caused damage to the Victorian asset.

Charity Urban Green Newcastle has recently been stripped of control of the city’s parks following concerns about its finances, with responsibility now having returned to Newcastle City Council.

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But there remain questions over whether the council will be able to find sufficient funds to maintain and improve the city’s beloved green spaces.

At the time of the original handover to Urban Green in 2019, the council had cut its annual parks budget from £2.58 million in 2010/11 to less than £1 million.

It now says that a minimum of £1.5 million will be needed each year just to keep the parks at their current state.

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