Moor Parks

Character of the area
The Moor Parks estate is characteristic of the housing estates built during the inter war period, that is two storey semi-detached houses, with gardens to the front and back. The majority of houses are of brick with render and pitched roofs, with plain tiles.
Although most houses in the estate are semi-detached they are not of one design. There are semis of traditional design and those of a ‘modernist design’ in Castle Grove Avenue. The latter retain their curved glass bays (though many have lost their original steel windows to uPVC replacements) and flat roofs (though with some third floor rear extensions looking out across Meanwood Park).
Over the whole estate, the houses range in size from large family semis to small two bed room semis in Castle Grove Avenue. This heterogeneity of housing types encourages a variety of uses of the properties; the estate at present houses a presbytery and a community of nuns.
The appearance of all streets (excepting Moor Road) is enhanced by grass verges, either at the front or the rear of the footway, many containing numerous trees. There are some stone walls in the area. The landscaped front gardens in the area are a valuable asset and some control is necessary to prevent their loss to car parking. Moor Road itself is now wider than it needs to be between Cottage Road and Shaw Lane.
The ancient footpath (originally High Close Road) which runs in between Moor Drive and Moor Park Drive up and over the ridge leading to the Donkey Steps and Hollin Drive, is an important advantage for the area providing pedestrian access to Meanwoodside and beyond, though some parts of the routes are not as visually attractive as they might be.
The only green areas apart from the gardens to which residents have access are the adjoining Tetley Hall estate and that is only a permissive right which is expected to be retained with new development there. Therefore the neighbouring green spaces such as Meanwood Park are particularly valued.
Although in recent years there have been some HMOs established in the estate, it is home to a stable and settled community. The varied housing stock means the estate has something to offer most households including families of differing incomes and sizes. The street layout (there only being one through road at the edge of the estate which discourages speeding traffic) makes it an area particularly suitable for families.
It is its heterogeneity of housing stock that gives this estate its identity. Although the area is well defined and distinctive, residents identify with the larger Headingley area which they use for leisure or shopping.

Key positive characteristics
• The variety of house types and sizes
• Trees in grass verges
• View to stone wall, mature trees and stone villas on the south side of Moor Road in the Tetley Hall estate

Extracted from Far Headingley, Weetwood & West Park Neighbourhood Design Statement, Leeds City Council, 2ed, 2014.  The whole document is available online at <http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/FH%20NDS%20Adoption%20Version.pdf>

For more on the area, see Far Headingley.