Gallery: Townspeople are set to vote on the future of an historic Fenland meadow
Residents of Chatteris voted to hold a local referendum on the future of Wenny Meadow, the town’s former Manor Park, at the Annual Town Meeting last night (Thursday).
The site is the subject of a planning application submitted by developer Cannon Kirk, which hopes to build 93 new homes as part of a wider plan to deliver 350-homes across adjoining land.
The date of the parish poll has not yet been confirmed, but it must take place between Thursday May 19 and Tuesday June 7.
Residents will be asked whether they would like Wenny Meadow to be designated as a Local Green Space in the emerging local plan, a draft of which is due to be published soon.
Local Green Space designation is a material consideration in a planning decision, giving land a similar level of protection to green belt land.
National planning rules say that Local Green Spaces should be near to the communities that they serve and special due to their beauty, historic significance, recreational value, tranquillity or richness of its wildlife. Campaigners from Save Wenny Road Meadow believe that the former Manor Park meets all of these criteria.
More than 1,100 residents signed a petition against development of the site, the council has received around 500 objections to Cannon Kirk’s planning application, and Wenny Meadow received 33 nominations for Local Green Space designation in the 2019 local plan consultation out of a total of 46 nominations for the whole of Fenland.
Chatteris Town councillors warned against the poll, which they said would cost up to £13,500. Campaigners believe that this figure is unrealistically high.
Campaigner Kirsty Patterson pointed out that recent polls in much larger towns than Chatteris have cost considerably less than this, and said that guidance to local councils says that they should plan for polls like this when setting budgets.
At last night’s meeting, Ms Patterson told the town council that residents were calling for the poll as a “last resort” after the 1,100-signature strong petition and multiple representations from residents had seemingly been ignored. Town Councillors repeatedly assured residents that many of them didn’t want Wenny Meadow to be built on either, with Councillor Mark Petrou telling those present that he had never voted in favour of building on the meadow and urging fellow councillors to allow the town to have a poll if that is what residents wanted.
Ms Patterson’s daughter, Evelyn Patterson, spoke to the town council in September 2021.
At last night's meeting, Evelyn said: “You may remember that I spoke to the town council. I asked you to object to building on Wenny Road Meadow. During that meeting I did not hear one councillor speak to save Wenny Road Meadow.”
The evening ended with a vote on whether to hold the poll, with 31 residents voting in favour of the poll and three residents voting against.
Save Wenny Road Meadow is a campaign that is now managed by the Friends of Wenny Road Meadow.
