Villagers still in the dark over field

A legal handover process is holding up the return of Miss Lawrence's Field to the parishioners of Kintbury

VILLAGERS in Kintbury are still being kept in the dark over a field in the heart of the village that it is claimed is becoming “an eyesore.”

In 2006, developers Taylor Wimpey (formerly Taylor Woodrow) were granted planning permission to construct 36 houses on one third of the field off Gainsborough Avenue (Miss Lawrence's Field), which was named after Miss Winifred Lawrence - the only daughter of corn merchant Arthur Lawrence, who left £500,000 in her will when she died in 1978 to benefit the village.

After the development was completed, it was expected that the remaining land would then be restored, landscaped and handed back to West Berkshire Council for ownership and Kintbury Parish Council for its upkeep under a legally-binding agreement.

However, the land has still not yet been returned to the parish after several years, much to the dissatisfaction of local residents.

One villager, Michael Kaye, of Newbury Street, recently wrote a letter to the leader of West Berkshire Council, Graham Jones (Con, Lambourn), expressing his disgust that the field was being poorly maintained with the grass rarely mown and the hedges rarely cut.

He said: “Surely after all this time West Berkshire Council has a duty to the parishioners of Kintbury to sort this out, and to enable them to have an acceptable amenity area and much needed facilities for our youth.”

The chairman of Kintbury Parish Council, Stephen Cook, added that the parish council was as much in the dark about the field as anyone else.

He said: “It is deeply frustrating because we can't get on with the things we want to do.

“We don't know what is going on at the moment and we don't know what is stalling it.”

Mr Cook said the parish council was keen to make several improvements to the field, which he said was beginning to resemble an eyesore, adding that these included creating some better footpaths and installing some new benches.

Mr Cook added that the field could also potentially become a venue for an annual village fete and a nature trail, but he said none of this could be done unless the parish council had control over it.

He said: “We have lots of ideas for the field, but unfortunately we cannot do anything with it while it is not ours.

“We just don't know what the next step is.”

West Berkshire Council spokeswoman, Peta Stoddart-Crompton, said this week that the transfer was currently in progress, but she said it had to go through a complete legal handover process.