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For the British singer, see Becky Hill. For the Australian comedian, see Bec Hill. Housing estate in Meanwood, Leeds, England

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Beckhill
Beckhill Approach, from Stainbeck Road
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53°49′48″N 1°33′19″W / 53.8300°N 1.5554°W / 53.8300; -1.5554

Beckhill (or Beck Hill) is a small council estate in the Meanwood area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has received negative local publicity in the past, but is now the subject of urban regeneration. The area is situated south of Stainbeck Road and north of Potternewton Lane. To the East is the Miles Hill Estate. Beckhill falls within the Chapel Allerton ward of Leeds City Council.

Location

The view from Beckhill northwest

The area was built in the 1970s and consists mainly of brick built terrace houses. The estate had a small newsagents on Beckhill Approach which was demolished in 2014. There is only one entrance to the estate via car, from Stainbeck Road, however there are ginnels linking it with Potternewton Lane from Beckhill Gate.

Schools

Miles Hill primary school was on Beckhill Approach, and had 170 pupils. The 2004 and 2007 league tables showed a challenging situation. The school was closed in 2007, and demolished in 2008. At the same time the estate children's play area in the former school grounds was closed due to maintenance costs. Beckhill is part of the intake area for St Urban's Catholic primary school. Miles Hill primary was recently replaced by the new Mill Field primary school on Potternewton Mount, which led to concerns over the road crossing in Potternewton Lane, as pupils now had to walk from their estates to the new school. However, this appears to be resolved by the addition of new zebra crossings.

History

Past

In 2004 there was a problem with gang behaviour in this and other estates, and in 2006 it was reported that children were committing burglaries. There used to be a public house called the Hilltop in Beckhill Grove but it was demolished in 2007, making space for a planned local regeneration development by East North East Homes Leeds. In July 2007 authorisation was given to demolish a large number of properties on Beckhill Approach and Beckhill Garth, to make way for new family housing. Beckhill became the focus of negative press attention in December 2008, following the 'Beckhill Stabbing'. As of 2014, knife crime continued to be a problem on the estate.

Present and future

Since 2007, the Beckhill Implementation Group (BIG) received funding from the NHS for activities to promote health and wellbeing on the estate. BIG won an Effective Partnership Working Award on 18 March 2009. Groundwork Leeds is still involved in improvement of this environment. In 2007 the average value of a house on Beckhill Chase was approximately half that of the average house in Leeds, and at least one of those houses was built in 1968. In Beckhill Grove there are 39 homes, built about the same time.

There is an active Beckhill Tenants and Residents' Association. £10,000 funding was agreed by Leeds City Council (North East Inner Area Committee) in 2008 for a study into the feasibility of providing a new community centre for Beckhill. The Three Churches Project focuses on this and other nearby estates. In 2008 the group completed a four-month project with people from estates including Beckhill, and performed a play based on Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona. New council housing is planned for the estate, as a second phase of Leeds City Council's intention to build 80 properties across three sites in Leeds.

Houses on the estate around Beckhill Approach were demolished in 2012 and the estate's newsagent was demolished in 2014.

References

  1. Schoolsnet: Miles Hill Primary School.
  2. BBC: League tables - Miles Hill Primary, 2004
  3. Education Guardian: league tables for 2007.
  4. "Let us play" Yorkshire Evening Post: by David Marsh, 11 July 2008.
  5. Education Leeds: St Urban's Catholic primary school, admission policy 2010.
  6. Encyclopedia.com: Extract from "Lesson should be learned over new school crossing", Yorkshire Evening Post, 20 February 2008.
  7. "Leeds.labour.co.uk: Councillor welcomes safe crossing, 2009". Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  8. "Enough is enough", Yorkshire Evening Post, by Bruce Smith, 20 July 2004.
  9. "Tiny thieves' terror trail", Yorkshire Evening Post, by Bruce Smith, 31 May 2006.
  10. Its Our Local: address of Hilltop public house, before 2007.
  11. "Leeds City Council: Living in Leeds North East, summer 2007: "Beckhill's Eyesore", page 9" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  12. Eastnortheasthomesleeds.org.uk: List of Beckhills to be demolished in 2007.
  13. "Dad stabbed to death in Leeds - Yorkshire Evening Post". Archived from the original on 5 December 2008.
  14. "Murdered Leeds dad named - Yorkshire Evening Post". Archived from the original on 7 December 2008.
  15. "Man died in revenge stabbing" Yorkshire Evening Post, 6 May 2009.
  16. Yorkshire Evening Post 20 June 2014: Four arrested over gang knife attack on man who defended girlfriend on Leeds estate
  17. Eastnortheasthomes.org.uk: Reasons to feel good in Beckhill, undated.
  18. "Leedsinitiative.org: Healthy Living Projects, 2009". Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  19. Groundwork Leeds: Beckhills Estate Clean up, 2009.
  20. "Mouseprice.com: Beckhill Chase property information, 2007". Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  21. Eastnortheasthomesleeds.org.uk: search results for "Beckhill" Archived 2016-02-02 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 25 June 2009
  22. "Study could give go-ahead", Yorkshire Evening Post:10 March 2008.
  23. "Three Churches Project: press release, 30 September 2008". Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  24. "Leeds to build new council housing" Archived 2009-04-27 at the Wayback Machine: Dash.com: 23 February 2009
  25. "Draft Beckhill neighbourhood framework". Democracy Leeds. Leeds City Council. June 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2019.

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