A bid to have a 35-acre area of open space declared a Village Green has failed.

A three-year campaign by the Medway Ecological Riverine Link (MERlin) and local residents to have the land at Bunyards Farm in Allington given Village Green status ended with the decision this week by government inspector Annabel Graham Paul, who ruled against their application.

Her decision leaves the way clear for Barrett David Wilson Ltd to go ahead with its planning application to build 435 homes on the land.

The campaigners first submitted their request to Kent County Council (KCC) in June of 2021. A public inquiry was held in March this year.

To prove their case, MERLin had to show that the public had enjoyed unfettered access to the land, which is owned by the Andrew Cheale Trust, for the past 20 years and they submitted a number of witness statements from nearby residents to support that claim.

Local people said they had used the land to walk their dogs, pick blackberries and as a play area for their children.

But at a public hearing, the landowners argued that, although the land has not been intensively farmed since 1998, it had occasionally been used for other activities such as hay-making and horse-grazing.

Douglas Edwards KC, a barrister acting for the landowner, suggested that the gaps in the perimeter fencing, which had allowed the public to gain access, were a result of vandalism, rather than the owners’ neglect.

Kent County Councillor Chris Passmore (Lib Dem) was one of the campaigners heavily involved in the application.

He said: “This is a bitter blow for thousands of residents in the area who will no longer have access to this space for recreation.

“It will also be lost as a natural space supporting nature and biodiversity.

“The inspector’s decision extinguishes any ray of hope we had of saving the final piece of recreational area for residents in this part of Allington.”

His fellow campaigner, Duncan Edwards, said: “We would like to thank all those who gave their time, expertise, cash, and in some cases submitted themselves to intense cross-examination at the public inquiry.

“While we have been unsuccessful, we have met many marvelous people for whom we are very grateful and now count as friends.”

“We have no regrets about taking up this challenge, which at times became a full-time job.”

Cllr Passmore said that meeting the requirements of the Commons Act 2006 was always going to be tough, but the imbalance of resources between residents and the developer had turned it into a David and Goliath battle, but one which this time, Goliath had won.

He said: “Once the landowner, supported by the developer, realised that their land was at risk, they used their vastly greater resources to engage a top barrister supported by a leading London law firm to effectively crush our application.

“It is this huge imbalance of resources that meant that, despite our really strong case and more than 100 residents giving excellent evidence of their use of the land, the decision came down on the side of the developer and landowner.

“Our experience at Bunyards Farm also clearly highlights a much broader issue. One that is very topical as the new government reviews planning laws.

“Allington is suffering because there is a lack of strategic planning right across Kent and the Southeast.

“If our application had been successful, Bunyards Farm Village Green would have been a critical green space to serve a multitude of developments across northwest Maidstone.

“But if we build everywhere, future generations will no longer have the chance to get closer to nature and escape from our busy world, which has consistently proved to be so critical for the wellbeing of our society.“

Although KCC has the final decision on the application, rejection will be a mere formality following the inspector’s ruling.

Helen Grant, MP for Maidstone and Malling, who had paid several visits to the site during the course of the campaign, said: ‘I would like to thank Duncan Edwards, Chris Passmore and the rest of the Village Green application team on the hard work that they put in preparing for and undertaking a four-day public inquiry against the developer’s very well resourced legal team.

“Unfortunately, this means the loss of a further significant area of green space in my constituency, essential for the welfare of both residents and wildlife and I will now be discussing with Duncan, Chris and others what can be done to attempt to ensure that any development on this land benefits the existing residents.”

The Bunyards Farm site lies adjacent to a plot off Beaver Road, known as Castor Park, where West Kent Housing Association is currently building 106 homes.

Cllr Passmore said he and Mr Edwards would now resurrect MERLin to continue to campaign for active travel corridors and protect green space across the area.