'Part of the community lost': Fury as historic trees outside former Leeds library cut down
The felling of decades-old trees outside a former library in Leeds has sparked anger and sadness among local residents.
Residents in Cross Gates said “part of the community is gone” after the trees outside the former library building on Farm Road were cut down last week.
The trees had stood outside Cross Gates Library since at least the 1950s, with one resident describing their removal as “another little piece” of the suburb being lost.
On a local Facebook group, one resident said the felling added “insult to injury” after Leeds City Council closed the library in 2022.
One local wrote: “Oh no, that was the first tree I saw with lights on at Christmas. I used to go to the library before I started school, and I am in my 80s.”
Another said the suburb would never be the same without them: “It feels like a part of the community is gone.”
Built in 1939, the Cross Gates Library has been the centre of local uproar over the last few years.
The library shut its doors in 2022 after services were relocated to the nearby Cross Gates Shopping Centre.
The building was later sold by the council in 2024 as part of efforts to generate income, despite local campaigners trying to prevent its sale.
At the time, the authority said the building had become a “target for anti-social behaviour” and has been subject to “extensive damage”.
Last year, the building changed hands again after being sold at auction for an undisclosed sum, estimated at around £400,000.
The council declined to comment, but said it had no involvement in the decision to cut down the trees.