'Protect village green' KIRKLEES COUNCIL AND CABINET

CAMPAIGNERS lobbied councillors to support their village green last night.

Members of Clayton Fields Action Group urged Kirklees Council not to allow house-building on eight acres of wild land.

The fields off Deveron Grove, Edgerton, have village green status, severely restricting development, after a successful campaign in 1997.

However, Leeds-based landowners Paddico Ltd want to apply to have that protection removed.

The land was advertised for sale on the Prospect Estates website as "eight acres of prime residential land zoned for housing".

Action group spokesman Mike Hardy told last night's council meeting: "The land has been used by residents for at least 90 years and has had village green status for 11 years."

"We ask for your continued support in keeping it a green space."

"There are peregrine falcons and foxes there and we even had a deer there last week."

The council's Cabinet member for regeneration Clr Ken Sims said Kirklees officials were checking the legal status of the land.

He said: "In the 1960s Huddersfield Borough Council gave planning permission for 55 homes on the land. We need to see if this is still in existence."

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