THE MAJORITY of people in a Northumberland town are supporting their football club against a bid to block developments, a public inquiry was told yesterday.
Haltwhistle United want to build dressing rooms and a car park on the town’s Old School Field.
But a section of locals have put in a bid to derail the project by applying for village green status for the town council-owned field.
Yesterday town and county councillor Alan Sharp – a lifelong resident and former pupil at the adjacent infants’ school – said Haltwhistle both needs and wants football played on the field.
Coun Sharp said: “The field has been used for many years for football matches and I have spoken to many people in the Haltwhistle community.
“They have stated to me that they have played football on the field on many occasions over the past 40 years. In my opinion from speaking to many people in Haltwhistle I feel that the majority of people in the town support the town council’s application for the playing of football on the Old School Field.”
Nearby residents who have formed the Fairfield Park and Willia Road Neighbourhood Action Group have formally applied for village green status and the final decision will be made by the county council’s rights of way committee after the local inquiry which ended last night.
Inspector David Manley QC will file a report from the two-day inquiry to go before the committee.
The decision will hinge upon whether the action group can prove that the playing field – popularly known locally as the Burn Field – has been in common recreational use for more than 20 years.
Objectors to the village green application claim the action group has failed to prove the point.
