Villagers’ plan to protect club fields

VILLAGERS are applying to have a local sports club field designated as a village green to protect it from future development.

The Saving Sully group and Lavernock Community Council have jointly submitted an application to Vale of Glamorgan Council to give Sully sports field village green status.

A three-day hearing is listed to start on January 29 at the Vale council offices with a barrister making the case for Saving Sully and developers St Modwen objecting to the status being granted.

The council’s planning committee last year rejected a plan from Sully Sports and Social Club with developers St Modwen for 200 houses and new sports facilities on the site beside the sea.

But campaigners fear a fresh application could still be made unless the area is given village green status.

Saving Sully said 80 residents have provided evidence for the hearing that they have been using the lands for between 20 and 40 years for activities including walking, dog walking, blackberry picking and kite flying. A number of residents will give oral evidence to an inspector hearing the case.

In order for village green status to be designated the inspector will have to be satisfied that the site has been used for recreation in such a way for at least 20 years.

Steve Thomas, chairman of Saving Sully, said: “If we get village green status for the land that would mean it would be exempt from any development or planning application under The Commons Act 2006.

“The exemption to that would be if the club applied for planning permission linked to sport and leisure – such as building changing rooms or courts – but they could not apply to build houses, factories or businesses on the site.

“You can apply to have a village green created on any parcel of land provided you can make a case.

“Our case is that the land has been used by the public for leisure in an unfettered way years.

“The area is needed for leisure in the village. We have 540 houses going up in Cog and no playing fields and Cosmeston is allocated for a further 570 houses with no field. There are all these houses planned with no amenities for the people who will live in them.”

Hunter Jarvie, deputy leader of the Vale council said: “Following the inquiry, the inspector will produce a report recommending whether or not the application should be successful. Once this report has been received, the council will make its decision.” for more than 20