Residents lose battle for village green status (From Clacton and Frinton Gazette)

Walton: Residents lose battle for village green status

4:00pm Wednesday 27th February 2013 in News

RESIDENTS have been turned down in their bid to have a green area in Walton officially recognised as a village green.

They have been battling to see the triangle of grass off Mill Lane given the official title.

But an Essex County Council inspector recommended rejecting the village green bid.

The council went with the inspector and rejected the idea.

Campaigner Fred Robinson, of Mill Lane said: “We were completely devastated to see the inspector go against our bid.

“We started the application in between the Tesco and Mere applications. It seemed like massive developments were happening all around us.

“The land has been used just like a village green for many years and we wanted to safeguard that with all the possible change on the way.”

Based on the evidence presented the inspector decided the application did not meet the necessary criteria.

Mr Robinson added: “We worked incredibly hard on this and gave it our all, which I think is something we can be proud of."