Milford villagers raise £115,000 to save meadow from being sold to developers after appeal by parish council
THE “tremendous generosity” of villagers has saved a plot of land from a potential sale to developers after residents stumped up £115k to buy it for the community.
As reported by the A&T, Milford Parish Council launched an urgent community appeal last month after receiving notice the grassland near All Saints Church was set to be sold with a guide price of £100,000. The open green space was left by its owner to the Friends of Christchurch Priory almost a decade ago.
After a failed bid to get planning permission for a house on the land in 2022, the Friends then revealed in October it was preparing to sell the site. The neighbouring area of land was bequeathed to the parish of Milford to be kept as a community space.
The deadline for bids was 30th November, and on Monday the parish council was told its bid of £114,535 had been successful.
Milford Parish clerk Graham Wells said: “We are absolutely delighted with this outcome and acknowledge the tremendous generosity of the village.
“We understand that there were four other bids, one of which was close to ours.”
The parish council is now looking to exchange contracts at the end of January once all pledges have been collected.
Mr Wells said: “Altogether we received around 120 pledges from 140 people, as some were joint pledges.
“Whether it was £200 or several thousand pounds, every pledge made the difference to our successful bid. There were some very generous bids, as I believe this was something the village felt very strongly about.”
Mr Wells said that while the parish council was prepared to contribute towards the appeal, in the end the pledges submitted by villagers were enough to secure the purchase. However, parish council funds will now be used for maintenance and enhancement of the area so it can be enjoyed by the whole village.
The former owner of the land, Diane Gillespie, died in 2015 leaving one section of the site to Milford Parish Council, to be kept as a community meadow, and a second plot to the Friends without any stipulations about how the land should be used.
A planning application by Bayview Homes was submitted in 2022 to develop the land with a four-bedroom bungalow. However, the application triggered 322 letters of objection from residents, as well as the formation of campaign group Friends of The Meadow.
The application was rejected by New Forest District Council after planning officers concluded it would have a detrimental impact on two listed buildings nearby and would not enhance the conservation area.
A subsequent planning appeal was dismissed by a government inspector who said that development would “severely” reduce the distinctive quality of the shared setting of important historic buildings. As a result of this ruling, it has been deemed unlikely planning permission will be granted for any development.
Mr Wells said although the parish council had not formally agreed a plan for the meadow, it is likely to remain a space for nature and contemplation.
He added: “It is a likely that we will have to clear the site as it is quite overgrown. In the longer term we could plant a few fruit trees and put in a few benches around for people to sit on. But all that will be decided by the parish council in due course.”
