A POPULAR public park will be fenced off after its owners were refused planning permission to build houses there.
The Heart of England Co-operative Society says it will follow through on its threat to block access to Oakfield Park in Bilton Road – initially made last month when Rugby Borough Council’s planning committee voted unanimously against their application to build 50 new houses on the park.
And it plans to appeal against the decision, claiming Rugby would miss out on planned investment of £100,000 in play and sports facilities if the development did not go ahead.
The Society Secretary Steve Slater, said: “It is with regret that we have to announce that we are left with no alternative, given that Rugby Borough Council’s lease on the land has run out, but to fence off the land as the Society can no longer take on the legal responsibility for public access.
“The Society is very disappointed that Rugby Borough Council has turned down our application to build 50 new homes at Oakfield Recreation Ground when there is a proven need for housing in the town.
“The council has a shortage of sites set aside for housing, according to national standards, and the proposed development would have provided a mix of housing from one-bedroom apartments to five-bedroom homes.”
Rugby MP Mark Pawsey said he would ask for the appeal decision to be made by Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis, rather than by a planning inspector, because the park was a valuable public amenity.
He said: “Of the planning applications that I’ve been aware of during my time in local politics, this is the most clear-cut decision as to where development should not take place. It’s very valuable amenity land.”
At last month’s meeting, planning committee member Coun Kathryn Lawrence said: “The Co-op’s founding principle was to benefit everybody in the community, and so I have got issues with the way in which the representative has actually tried to intimidate us by talking about fencing the land off so that nobody can use it.”
Fellow member Coun Neil Sandison added the Co-op representative was trying to ‘hold the council to ransom’.
As part of the planning application the Society had offered to contribute £100,000 towards the cost of a new 3G football pitch for Rugby Town Junior Football Club in Kilsby Lane, and create a new Multi Use Games Area and upgrade children’s play equipment at Oakfield.
The Society has not indicated when the park will be fenced off.
(Article taken from The Rugby Observer)