Angry Shrewsbury residents are planning to stage a protest at the site of a proposed housing development after claiming they were ‘lied to’ by the town council.
As part of the demonstration, more than 30 locals will march down to Greenfields Recreation Ground, where a number of eco-houses could be built, and replant a number of trees after previous woodland was uprooted by Shrewsbury Town Council in April.
The campaigners will also be joined by a number of students from nearby Greenfields Primary School for the protest, which is taking place on Tuesday, September 28, at 3.30pm.
Special posters have been produced by demonstrators which will now be put up across the area to increase support for the demonstration.
Residents are upset the former nursery and woodland was cleared by the town council, which owns the land, earlier in the year.
They claim they were then told the site would be used for allotments, until it emerged recently that a number of eco-homes could now be built.
Under the former borough council’s local plan, the site has been earmarked for development and negotiations are now ongoing between Shrewsbury Town Council and Shropshire Council about a potential land swap agreement.
This would see the town council given an area to create new allotments in Bowbrook while Shropshire Council would own the Greenfields site.
Claire Kirby, who lives on Coton Crescent, is one of the people behind the protest. She said: “It used to be a tree nursery and then beautiful woodland with lots of paths running through it and next thing we know the trees had all been chopped down over night during the nesting season and people are very upset – the council has created the eyesore.
“When I pushed the town council on it they said it would be used for allotments but they never had any intention of that – they have just been fobbing residents off and lying to us all along. It is one of the last remaining green spaces in Greenfields and residents really don’t want a housing development. I believe calling them ‘eco-houses’ is just a cynical ploy to get planning consent.
“A lot of people are stirred up about this and we expect at least 30 people for the protest next week and we are determined to make a point.”
Peter Nutting, leader of Shrewsbury Town Council, said: “As far as I am aware we have never in any official way stated that the land at Greenfields Recreation Ground would definitely be allotments.“It has always been on the cards that it could be a small eco-housing development but we do intend to keep a portion of land on site available for allotments.”
By David Seadon