A GROUP of residents are lobbying the town council to help protect the popular Murray Walk fields.
The residents are urging the town council to negotiate with Cooper Tire Europe, the owners of the land, to agree that the Melksham community be given first refusal to purchase the land, should they decide to put it up for sale. A fundraising campaign by residents will help raise the money to cover the costs of purchasing the land.
They say that the land is ‘vital’ to the community and that it should be maintained as an open green space where wildlife can flourish.
Whilst Cooper Tire Europe say they have no ‘current plans’ to sell the land, but residents are fearful that the land could be sold ‘quietly and quickly’ to the local farmer, Tim Farthing, who currently rents the land.
The fields have been at the centre of controversy since late 2017 when residents launched a campaign to protect the land after discovering damage had been caused to trees, hedgerows and the habitats of protected species of wildlife.
The damage was caused after farmer Tim Farthing from Halfway House Farm in Beanacre, built alternative access to the fields, to harvest crops in danger of being damaged by an oncoming storm.
The residents also launched a bid to purchase the land in May last year, but were told by Cooper Tire Europe that the land was not for sale.
Resident Adrian Cooke said, “We don’t know if Cooper Tire are planning to sell the land, however we are concerned with the fact that they can do so without anyone’s knowledge. Therefore an agreement beforehand to ensure we have first refusal would be advantageous. We advise anybody who has thoughts on the matter to do likewise (send a letter to the town council) before the opportunity disappears for good.”
Fellow resident Sue Stoker added, “We don’t trust Cooper Tire and at some point they will close the factory and sell off all the land and we just want to keep the ownership of those fields in the public domain.
“If we can get the town council to establish with Cooper Tire that they are given first refusal, hopefully the people of Melksham will stand to benefit from some additional green space.”
A spokesperson for Cooper Tire told Melksham News, “Cooper has previously responded to similar enquiries and our position has not changed. We have no current plans to sell the land next to Murray Walk. There is no additional information to share at this time.”
Melksham Town Council will be discussing the group’s request at a future date.
