Shropshire Star

'We didn't want to have to take it this far': Land row campaigners prepare for date with destiny

Campaigners embroiled in a land row that will end up in the highest court in the land next week say they never wanted it to go that far.

Published
Land at Greenfields Recreation Ground

Greenfields Community Group has been involved in a legal battle over the wrongful £550,000 sale of a patch of land in Greenfields Recreation Ground, Shrewsbury.

Next Wednesday, after a previous judicial review and Court of Appeal hearing, their case against Shropshire Council's granting of planning permission for homes on the land will be heard at the Supreme Court in London.

As they await their date with destiny, Dr Peter Day, who has led the legal challenge for the campaign group, said they never wanted to have to take it this far.

He said: "For the record that the Greenfields Community Group never wanted to go to the Supreme Court, indeed never wanted to go to court in any level and has done everything and used every democratic process to do everything to avoid this action."

This week, the group called on Shropshire Council to reveal its legal fees to find out how much the battle is costing county taxpayers.

A Shropshire Council spokesman said: “We don’t yet have a full break-down of our legal costs although we may need to provide this as part of the Supreme Court proceedings in due course and we can provide it at that time."

In June this year, Shrewsbury Town Council, which sold the land to CSE Developments for 15 homes to be built, "unreservedly" apologised to the group for the sale, and vowed to try and help return the land to the community. That came after an independent inquiry from Michael Redfern KC.

However, in September, town council leader Alan Mosley said the authority had been advised "unequivocally" to not enter negotiations with the current landowner until completion of the Supreme Court hearing.