Council Plan to Take Over St Mary’s Fields for Football Pitches

We have just heard that the Council is proposing to take over St Mary’s Fields, our open fields behind Church Road, and convert them into a large number of formal football pitches with the risk of further development on the site.This proposal is being rushed through the Council’s Planning Committee on next Tuesday night 29th March, with no consultation with the local residents, any of the local resident associations or community or sports groups, the Hayes Conservation Panel, the local councillors, or local MP.
A property developer is seeking planning permission to develop for housing a site on the Hayes Railway Estate. The developer’s original plans were rejected at a planning inquiry because they resulted in the loss of football pitches. In order to overcome this objection the developer has been working with the council to find a site for alternative football pitches. The first site at Albion Road was rejected after a protest campaign by local residents. As a result the council is now offering up our local fields. If the housing development goes ahead the council will then receive half a million pounds in a S106 agreement from the developer.
St Mary’s Fields have been used in the past by Hayes Cricket club and following consultation with local residents only a few years ago local residents agreed that the council put back an artificial cricket pitch and a couple of goalposts for informal park use. We never agreed to formal football pitches because of the intensive use that this would result in, bringing with it all the problems of parking, noise, and litter and the potential for further developments on the site such as floodlighting and clubhouse etc.
Without telling any local residents the Council is now trying to sneak through the proposal for what will in effect be a football ground, opening up the potential for much greater development in the future. This land is one of the last pieces of free open space in our area and I believe that we must stand up against this attempt to undermine our conservation area. Even Sport England, the national body responsible for promoting sports sites and the Football Association have told the council that our fields are unsuitable.
I am writing to appeal to you to contact the Council immediately to object to this proposal. Write or phone to the Planning Department, Civic Centre, Uxbridge, 01895 250111.
I would also urge you also to attend the Planning Meeting on Tuesday at 7pm at the Civic Centre where we will be lobbying the councillors on the planning committee to reject this proposal.
I have dealt with planning issues in this area for over 30 years and I can say that I have never seen such an outrageous attempt to force a development like this through at such a speed without even informing or consulting the local residents to be effected. Please help me save our local environment.

submitted by John on 25 Mar 2011 at 10:38