THE bitter stand-off over funding for Sheet's millennium meadow could be coming to an end after both sides called for a ceasefire. Years of feuding over who should pay for maintenance of the land appeared to be driving a wedge between Petersfield Town Council and Sheet Village Association (SVA). But at a meeting of the town council's grounds committee last Thursday, Hugh Sandeman made an impassioned plea for an end to the war of words. He told colleagues: "We are arguing over a few hundred pounds a year versus losing a whole area of council taxpayers. "If we lost them we would be on our knees. Imagine trying to run Petersfield Heath without their council tax. "We can still save a relationship that is vital to the town." Hilary Ayer agreed, saying: "We have got to come to a long-term solution. We can't keep bickering. I'm fed up with doing things that are driving Sheet away. "We seem happy to help the Rotherlands Conservation Group, but not Sheet. "I think if we go with a regular amount in the same way we are paying a contractor to do Love Lane, for example, then with a bit of luck Sheet will begin to feel like we love it again." Initially, some town councillors were under the understanding that no money would be given for upkeep of the land once the meadow was established. But members of the SVA dispute this and claim the town council should be responsible for looking after its asset. And the issue shot back onto the agenda earlier this year after the council agreed to give just £350 towards maintaining the land. The amount was greeted with disappointment by SVA chairman Andrew Platt. But in a letter to the town council in February, he said it was time that the two parties finally worked towards an agreement. He said: "The current stand-off between the town council and the community of Sheet is not sustainable, and we must both work together to try to establish a long-term solution which works for all parties. "Further escalation is in none of our interests and could be damaging for the communities we seek to represent. "We hope that you will be happy to work with us on this collaborative basis so that we can eliminate the need for ever-more heated discussions on this matter every time the town council meets." He also presented a number of "principles" which he hoped could act as possible long-term solutions to the problem. One suggested that the town council could be the long-term owner of the meadow, with maintenance costs being met by the community of Sheet, not Petersfield Town Council. A second proposed that the council, as owners, pay a percentage of maintenance costs as part of an ongoing, five-year agreement. The final principle suggested that ownership of the meadow be transferred to a "suitable ownership vehicle" in Sheet. Members decided to ask council staff to investigate the cost of using a contractor to cut the meadow twice a year.