Council to discuss registering Weavering Heath as a Village Green following petition to safeguard it
15:55, 22 January 2020
updated: 16:01, 22 January 2020
The fate of Weavering Heath, in Maidstone, will be discussed tonight.
The borough council will talk over a petition to declare the space a Village Green.
The Friends of Weavering Heath and Woodlands group initiated the online campaign in April 2019 asking the local authority, which owns the land, to apply to Kent County Council (KCC) for the classification.
It is hoped the rating would provide greater protection against the possibility of any future development on the site.
Under current legislation, the borough is committed to maintaining it as an open space until 2062.
But members of the group are concerned about what might happen to it after that date, which they stated as one of several reasons for the petition.
There are fears that there is no protection for the space in Maidstone Borough Council's (MBC) Local Plan which could see thousands of new homes built in the town.
Documents for the upcoming meeting at the town hall state the authority has no plans for an alternative use of the space or development.
When the campaign was first presented to the council at the communities, housing and environment committee in June 2019, petitioners said Weavering Heath should be classified as a Village Green because residents use it for dog walking, picnics and fitness classes and they believed they were best placed to decide what is suitable for the area.
They also stated concerns about traffic chaos and over-development if it were to be built on.
The group also have volunteer litter pickers which maintain the Heath.
To apply to KCC for Village Green registration it must meet specific criteria - showing it has been used for at least 20 years for lawful sports and pastimes by a significant number of local people with permission.
Campaigners have requested for MBC to make the application because it is considered to have greater authority and believed to have more knowledge and expertise to undertake the necessary work.
Alternatively, it can choose to endorse their aspirations and leave it for another person to apply if they wish.
The policy and resources committee members will be advised that the preferred option is to allow the process to be undertaken externally.
The agenda reads: "From the council's viewpoint, devoting resource to registering Weavering Heath as a Village Green contributes nothing further to its existing commitment to maintaining it as an open space, so would not be a productive use of officer time."
A decision will be reached later today.
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