Work to transform a former school site in north Leeds into a new park complete with a climbing wall, football pitches and an outdoor gym is well underway.
Last year, plans totalling more than £500,000 were announced to bring the Royal Park School site in Hyde Park back into use more than 15 years after it shut down for good.
The area has been fenced since 2004, with weeds overgrowing the land where the main school building used to stand. It was demolished in 2014 and has been left in a state of disrepair ever since, while the adjoining park has also been neglected.
However, the Headingley and Hyde Park ward councillors have shared the picture at the top of this story to reveal the impressive progress that has been made on site.
"This has taken a huge amount of planning, consulting and organising to get to this point, plus an investment of over half a million pounds - but work has now begun!" says a post on their Facebook page.
"There will be refreshed sport facilities, an outdoor gym, new landscaping, a bouldering wall, a parkour track, a garden to walk through and a new play area that will be inclusive of children with disabilities."
The existing caretaker's house - which is currently boarded up - has remained in place, with the aim of transforming it into changing facilities for local sports teams in years to come.
A community orchard will be planted inside the derelict school site, while state-of-the-art bouldering wall will also be built inside the walls, alongside a brand new parkour area.
New outdoor gym equipment will be installed next to the sports pitches, while a giant 'globe' climber with steel-cored rope will be the pièce de résistance in a huge new playground which will span the width of the site between Queen's Road and King's Road.
"We can touch all the needs of the community in a large space and it's inclusive," said Cllr Neil Walhsaw.
"It's going to be great, it really is."
Follow LeedsLive
Download the LeedsLive app - You can download our free app for iPhone and iPad from the Apple App Store, or get the Android version from Google Play.
Click here to join the LeedsLive Whatsapp group and follow the instructions on your phone to receive the latest news updates! Your number won't be shared with anyone else in the group.
Sign up for our daily newsletter to get the latest headlines direct to your inbox!
Follow us on social media: Like our Facebook page here, and follow Best In Leeds for the latest food drink and event news from across the city.
You can also join our Facebook groups : Leeds city centre news, Leeds Traffic and Travel, M62 Traffic and Travel, Emmerdale Superfans, In the Dock court reports and Leeds Festival 2020.
On Twitter you can follow us @leedslivenews.
On Instagram we're @leedslive - tag us in your beautiful pictures of Leeds!
