By Don Mort, local democracy reporting service
A community recreation site will get protected “village green” status after a seven-year campaign by nearby residents.
Part of Sunnybank Lane Recreation Ground in Thornbury will be safeguarded from future development after the decision by Leeds City Council.
An application from Sunnybank and Woodhall Fields Community Action Group, lodged in 2019, faced opposition from Bradford Council, which owns the land.
But a public inquiry held in May this year decided town or village green (TVG) status could be awarded under the Commons Act.
The final decision was down to Leeds councillors in their capacity as Commons Registration Authority for the land.
They were told land could be classed as a TVG if conditions were met, including that a significant number people had been using it for sport or pastimes for 20 years and continued to do so.
Principal legal officer Philippa Plumtree-Varley said: “Bradford are the land owners. But land ownership is actually irrelevant to the question of whether we should register this land as a TVG.”
Bradford Council was not represented at the Leeds West plans panel meeting.
A report to the meeting said photographic evidence, questionnaires and a petition were submitted by the applicant, Kulvinder (Kully) Manik, in 2019.
It said: “Despite the Bradford postal address given for the application land, it lies within the metropolitan district of Leeds, and therefore the administrative area of the council, although it is very close to the boundary with Bradford.”
Plans panel member Dan Cohen, a Conservative Alwoodley councillor, moved an officers’ recommendation to approve TVG status for part of the land known as Plot 6.
He said: “What’s really clear here is there’s been a huge amount of work by local residents seeking to protect a local amenity and to make sure it is protected for the future.”
Councillors unanimously voted in favour of TVG status at the meeting at Leeds Civic Hall.
Andrew Carter, Calverley and Farsley Conservative councillor, was among supporters of the application.
He said: “I want to pay tribute to the local residents, particularly Kully Manik, and the team that appeared at the public inquiry.
“I was very pleased to support the local residents throughout this long and drawn-out process.”
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