There are 10 members of Roundhay Freshwater Watch who are carrying out monthly water quality monitoring in the becks and lakes in Roundhay. Friends of Roundhay Park have got involved in the project and the Park Manager is really supportive and interested in the data we are producing. Over the next 12 months the data we collect will provide a picture of the water quality of the two lakes and the becks that feed into them. There are a number of CSOs that outpour into the Becks and one of the Becks runs adjacent to the ring road. We have had discussions with the University of Leeds water@leeds project team who have given us advice on types of testing and we will introduced some new additional tests in the Spring.
Action plan:
There are currently seven members of the Roundhay Freshwater group. We are all members of Roundhay Environmental Action Project (REAP) and found out about the opportunity to apply for funding from ChangeX through the REAP newsletter. Roundhay is a lovely area with parks, woodland and waterways and there have been a number of initiatives to plant trees, introduce relaxed mowing and encourage wildlife. The local parks both have ‘Friends of’ groups taking care of them: Friends of Moortown Park and Friends of Roundhay Park. However, we are concerned about the water quality of the waterways; Great Heads Beck and the two lakes in Roundhay Park. We welcome the opportunity to start testing the water in our area. In particular, there is concern about run off from the ring road into Great Heads Beck and that there may be sewage outlets leading into the Beck. We are aware that Friends of Gledhow Wood, which is an area adjacent to Roundhay, are applying for funding to set up a Freshwater Watch group and have been in discussion with them about their plans.
Timeline: When will you be able to start your project? How often will your team meet? Are there any key dates to share for the project?
We expect to start the project in October. This will allow time for the funding to come through from Change X and for us to get set up with Freshwater Watch including completing the training and receiving the sampling kits. The group are going to meet in August to walk the length of the watercourse we are planning to monitor in order to identify monitoring sites. We will have a group training session where the project leader will disseminate the training provided by Freshwater Watch and we will work together in groups when starting our initial sampling in the field. Most of our remote communication will be via a Whatsapp group, and we will meet every 3 months to discuss our findings and plan next steps.
Budget: You don't need to share exact prices, but please share how you're planning to spend the seed funding & what costs you're anticipating to get your project up and running:
Included in the ChangeX funding – our subscription to Freshwater Watch for the first year, sampling kits for team members, full training etc
Impact: How will your community benefit from this project? Do you have any measurable goals for your project, such as the number of people that will participate? Are you hoping to spread knowledge or increase interest in a specific subject?
The project
Phase one:
October 2023 to October 2024
We plan to monitor Great Heads Beck in North East Leeds, and in particular the Addyman Woods area in North East Leeds..'
The Beck borders the edge of the Roundhay area, between the Leeds outer ring road and a residential area the houses. It is the main feeder stream into the Waterloo Lake in Roundhay Park. We plan to monitor a number of sites along the waterway on a monthly basis and determine the level of water quality. This will provide evidence for addressing issues with water quality which will be of benefit to wildlife and the community.
Initial actions:
Phase two:
January 2024 onwards
There are two lakes in Roundhay Park and we plan to contact Friends of Roundhay Park about monitoring the smaller lake as a collaboration with them. Prior to this we will have discussed the monitoring of the section of Great Heads Beck that is within the park boundary with them. The larger lake (Waterloo Lake) is used for the World Series Triathlon and we are aware that Leeds City Council carry out some monitoring there and we will contact them to find out the extent of this.
Next phase actions;
Communication
Our group is well placed in the community to generate interest and increase people’s awareness of water quality through the following channels:
Roundhay Environmental Action Project: Our Freshwater Group has 7 members to date. Most of us are members of Roundhay Environmental Action Project (REAP), which has a membership of over 300 people and we will share our activities and findings through the monthly REAP newsletter.
Friends of Roundhay Park: We plan to invite Friends of Roundhay Park (FoRP) to get involved in our project in Phase 2 and will be in communication with them from the start of the project. FoRP have 6.5k followers on Facebook.
Roundhay Women’s Insitute: One of our group members is a member of Roundhay Women’s Institute and they will share our activities with the WI group which has over 60 members. The WI theme for this year is water quality so we anticipate the group will be very interested in our project.
Climate Action Leeds: REAP is affiliated with Climate Action Leeds which is a city-wide network of environmental groups so we will be able to promote our Freshwater Watch group through this network.
Leeds City Council: REAP has strong connections with Leeds City Council in particular with their Woodland Creation team and we plan to keep them fully informed of our project as it progresses.
In addition, REAP has connections with Roundhay Residents Association (RORA), local allotment groups, Friends of Moortown Park and others and we will share our activities with these groups.
Collaboration with local community groups
Our aim in Phase 2 is to broaden the scope of the project by inviting Friends of Roundhay Park to join us in monitoring the waterways within Roundhay Park. Our plan would be to order additional sampling kits and work alongside members of FoRP to regularly monitor the small lake in the park. There is a possibility this will also include the larger lake. This will depend on the response from Leeds City Council about existing monitoring arrangements. We will also contact Wyke Beck Valley partnership to find out what water quality monitoring they are aware of in their area and to explore teaming up with them. This will allow us to further develop community relationships and monitor waterways beyond Roundhay park down towards the city.
Location: If your project requires physical space, have you decided the location? Do you have all necessary permission and permits to carry out your project at the chosen location?
We don’t require a physical space as our group members will be able to store equipment in their homes and carry out data uploading at home, or on phones.
