ALTON Town Council has vowed to "fight vigorously" against the threatened loss of public open space on the Manor estate. Outraged, in particular, over East Hampshire District Council's plan to sell off a well-used kickabout area between Link Road and Manor Close, Alton councillors have determined to investigate the possible acquisition of the site. Rather than see it sold off for development, they would like to purchase it, under similar terms as Flood Meadows, for a peppercorn sum and with assistance towards future maintenance costs – the intention being to cement its retention as a Public Open Space (POS) in perpetuity. At a full town council meeting last Wednesday, councillors expressed their concern over the lack of transparency displayed by EHDC in advertising its intention to sell the land. They had been alerted by a public notice in the Alton Herald stating a desire by EHDC to dispose of several plots of land for development, some of it in Alton. An inquiry to EHDC's planning department revealed two areas of open space on the Manor estate – the first a 0.30-acre site stretching between Link Road and Manor Close and the other a 0.07-acre plot adjacent to 28 Baverstocks. To help put the record straight, district councillor Andrew Joy (Ashdell) attended the meeting to explain the situation. He said that in attempting to comply with Government policy, which requires local authorities to make best use of land, EHDC had looked at its property portfolio and flagged up those areas of land over which there was a question mark. And that was the land now offered for sale. According to the town council these proposals had come "out of the blue" – town clerk Steve Parkinson was convinced that at no time had his council been invited to comment on EHDC's review of assets, or the disposal of land in the parish. Mr Joy was convinced that they had. Furthermore, while he agreed that, on reflection, more information could have been given in the notice of intent, he stressed that the public would have an opportunity to comment on the future of the sites during the planning process. Fellow Tory councillor Beverley Carpenter claimed that, despite the public notice clearly stating that the land would be sold for development, this was not set in concrete and EHDC could dispose of these sites for other uses. In the case of Baverstocks, since the site is so small, it was felt that it may be better incorporated into a neighbouring property's garden - a point taken on board by one Manor estate resident who had expressed concern over possible inappropriate development of what is an extremely slim strip of land. While councillors appeared to be willing to consider compromise on this particular site, they voted unanimously to object in principle to the loss of designated open space. Chairing the meeting, Atul Patel pointed out that the provision of public open space had been a condition of planning at the time the Manor estate was built, and, in his opinion, should remain so. Colleague Pam Jones accused the district council of having "double standards," pointing out that other developers have to provide such open spaces, or would be forced to replace it – and EHDC should be no different. Bob Evans was adamant youngsters used the ground on the Manor estate as a kickabout area. He said: "Children don't take enough exercise as it is – it would be extremely remiss of EHDC to dispose of it." Town council leader David Willoughby felt that even with Anstey Park on the doorstep, kickabout areas were extremely important, especially for younger children who needed to play closer to home. While in favour of retaining the Manor Close site, John Smith reminded members that there were pressures on EHDC to build affordable housing, and it was not always easy to find suitable land. He would therefore like to hear from residents how important the land actually is to them. Concern that EHDC would be duty-bound to maximise income on any land it disposes of was mitigated by Mr Parkinson, who confirmed that there were exceptions to the rule. He said this included land for recreation which could, in fact, be given away – encouraging news for any future purchase of the Manor estate site by the town council. Beverley Carpenter warned there was no room for complacency. She said she believed that if ATC was to object to the loss of open space at Manor Close, it should be prepared to put up a fight. She said: "We do need to put our money where our mouths are – if EHDC wants us to buy the land we should look at negotiating and negotiating hard."
