Monday, February 28, 2011

'Save our green space from the house builders'

Residents have launched a campaign to save a plot of land from housing developers.

People in Western Park hope to have the patch of grass off Finch Close declared as "common ground".

This would stop developers who want to build seven homes and 13 car parking spaces on the land.

Dozens of residents gathered on the green on Saturday to show support.

They plan to make an application for the land to be declared "common ground" to the city council.

It will be the first of its kind to be submitted in Leicester, and comes after 106 residents submitted objections to the developers' plans to the city council.

Di Driver, 62, retired, who has lived near the green for 11 years, said it must be saved.

She said: "It's for the children, and their children. If we get rid of it, what will we have left?

"The kids play football on it and we are going to have a royal wedding party on it. It brings people together."

Bryony Harrison, 11, has played on the grass all her life.

She said: "I would feel sad if they got rid of it. We would have nowhere else to play."

Friend and neighbour Rebecca Ryan, 11, said: "We have picnics here and play games.

"We would just end up sitting inside watching TV."

The campaign to save the land is being backed by Leicester West MP Liz Kendall.

In order to be successful, residents will have to prove they have had unrestricted access to the land for more than 20 years and have been using it for recreational activity.

They will have to submit an application with witness statements which prove this.

Ms Kendall said: "We have a really strong case to protect the green. I want to continue to see residents enjoy the space they have been enjoying since the late 1960s."

Builders SGP Land and Developments Ltd have submitted the application to build two three-bedroom houses, four two-bedroom houses and a single one bed property.

No one from the Northampton company was available for comment.

The city council said the original developers who built the housing estate in the 1960s were given permission on the condition they provided a play area on the land, which upon completion would then be handed back to the council.

An area of land was covered in grass, which the residents are now fighting to protect, but a play park was never built and the land was never given back to the council.

The city council said it understood the land still belonged to the original developers.

Liz Kendall's parliamentary assistant Peter Mason, said: "Under the Commons Act 2006, it states if we can prove communities have had unobstructed access to the space for 20 years for recreational activity, it can be saved."

A city council spokesman said there was no set date for development plans to be considered.



Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32715/f/503348/s/1306db50/l/0L0Sthisisleicestershire0O0Cnews0CSave0Egreen0Espace0Ehouse0Ebuilders0Carticle0E32732890Edetail0Carticle0Bhtml/story01.htm

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