A MILLENNIUM wood for Sheet seemed as far off as ever this week as interested parties sat around the table again to decide on a way forward for a scheme to commemorate the new century.
After a meeting organised by the Millennium Wood Committee on Tuesday night, Vaughan Clarke, Petersfield town councillor, a member of Sheet Village Association and editor of the village magazine, said the whole thing was clouded by confusion.
It was Mr Clarke who put forward the original idea last year for a volunteer community project involving the residents of the area to plant up a wood to be enjoyed by future generations on nearly eight acres of town council-owned land off Mill Lane.
But with a number of different options for the land, including a cricket and recreation ground surrounded by woodland, Mr Clarke told the Herald on Wednesday: "Nobody is quite sure what to do, and the two sides seem as wide apart as ever."
The meeting on Tuesday decided to give Sheet Village Association eight weeks to come to a decision to go ahead with the wood or come up with another proposal.
Another meeting called by Sheet Village Association was due to take place last night (Thursday) for invited guests to decide a way forward.
Two town councillors, Vaughan Clarke and Brian Keefe, were both expected to attend but it is understood the chairman of the Petersfield Town Council grounds committee, the town council's representative for the piece of land, had not been invited.
At a public meeting in February it was decided that a compromise of a forest glade, which could be used for cricket and other recreation purposes and surrounded by a millennium wood, may get the approval of residents.
But members of Sheet and Tilmore Allotments Association are against the idea and want the whole area returned to allotments and a newly-formed organisation, Mill Lane Conservation Group, wants to see the whole area turned into an open space and protected from future development.
Patricia White, the secretary of the association, which includes all the residents from the narrow single-track country lane, told The Herald that the group was strongly opposed to any extra activity like a cricket or recreation ground that would mean more traffic and additional parking problems.
"It's nonsense to think of any increased traffic. There is only enough space for the traffic we have at the moment," said Mrs White.
"We have no strong objection to a millennium wood, other than the density of wood proposed," she added.
Mrs White said the town council had given the cricket club 12 weeks to come up with a proposal for a change of use but nothing had been submitted.
"We are in a very difficult position. we have no control over the land but because it is owned by the town council we hope they will take out a covenant to protect it."