Campaigners may celebrate with champagne evening on their new village green

A patch of land within the estate of Hillcrest at Aberhafesp, near Newtown, has officially been recognised as a village green.

In October, Powys County Councillors at a special meeting of the planning committee heard the arguments for and against the application.

And deliberations found that the patch of land, which is an area of 0.32 of an acre, had passed the necessary tests.

Hillcrest resident Richard Amy, who made the application and argued in favour of it at the special meeting of the planning committee, said: “I received the official letter and I’m delighted if a bit surprised.

“I’ve already had a chat with the neighbours and when the weather is better we might celebrate with an evening of champagne and soup on the green.

“We did this for the children really.

“If the green was built upon, then they would have nowhere to play and a main road is nearby.”

Planning committee chairman, Councillor Karl Lewis, said: “The basis that the committee considered was that the land in question satisfies all the statutory requirements for registration as a village green."

Powys County Councillor for Rhiwcynon which includes Aberhafesp, Heulwen Hulme, said: “Residents are delighted and can now move forward.

“It has taken a long time to get to this result and I admire Richard Amy and the residents of Hillcrest for continuing to pursue it to this outcome.”

To succeed the application needed to show that the land has been used “as of right” by Hillcrest residents and that it has been used for 20 years for lawful sports and pastimes.

Story by Local Democracy Reporter Elgan Hearn