Angry residents in Crownhill have spoken to the Plymouth Chronicle about their frustration over the potential loss of a valuable green space in their community.
Residents in the Ruskin Crescent area gathered on the field – known as the ‘land adjacent to Wilmot Gardens’ in Crownhill – just before this issue of the Chronicle went to print for a group photo and to voice their concerns over potentially losing ‘the last green space’ in their community.
Following the withdrawal of an initial planning application in 2021 to build seven homes on the land, developer Classic Builders (SW) Ltd later submitted proposals for five properties on the Plymouth City Council-owned land.
Local residents – including the Crownhill and Local Area Residents Association (Clara) – have been fighting the plans as they say this is the only green space in the area where children can play, dog walkers can give their pets a run and disabled, vulnerable and elderly people can both get to easily and enjoy for their wellbeing.
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The residents are also concerned about the potential felling of mature trees in an ancient hedgerow that borders the site, plus they are worried about the likely loss of wildlife, including foxes, hedgehogs and bats.
One nearby resident, Sylvia Plant – who has mobility problems and claims she ‘simply can’t get to any other green area’ to walk her dog – said:
“I and many others in our community use that green space to walk our dogs and to exercise as we are too immobile to be able to get anywhere else. If we lose it, we don’t just lose the hub of our community, we lose the only green space we have for those with disabilities.
“Disabled people meet on the green with both disabled and able-bodied people to chat regularly and walk their dogs together. For some of us, that’s the only time in a day that we interact with someone else. No community green means no community for many of us.”
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Another resident, Jason Uren, has spina bifida and needs crutches to walk. He said:
“I have two dogs – and the reason for that is that they help me maintain my mobility and my ability to walk. Most of the people I know who also grew up with this condition needed to be in a wheelchair in their 20s. Having dogs and having this green near my house has helped me delay this process. It’s a literal lifeline for me.
“I use the green on a daily basis. I simply can’t reach anywhere else, so I have nowhere to go if this green is built on. The council has a chance here to allow this community to hold on to its last remaining green space – if it doesn’t take that chance then so many of us in our neighbourhood will suffer as a result.”
Clara is calling on the local authority to take the matter to a future planning committee ‘rather than allowing this to be signed off under delegated authority’, which is a real possibility over the coming days.
The application received 41 objections from the community earlier this year — more than many much bigger planning applications — but it was not ‘called in’ for debate in a planning committee after a local councillor admitted they ‘misunderstood the planning call-in process’.
green every evening.
Maya Boitos, 10, who suffers from autism and uses the green ‘every evening’ for respite, says that it would ‘crush’ her if it was lost as it really helps her to relax and ‘feel better’.
She said:
“If it wasn’t here then I would have to cross busy roads and walk more than a mile to find the next green space. I just couldn’t do that — and neither could my friends who also play on the green, some who are much younger than me.”
A Clara spokesman said:
“If you care about community green spaces and ancient trees then get behind us now. Find our Facebook group or just contact your local councillor and help us put pressure on the council to do the right thing and send this application to the planning committee, where it can be debated in a fair, democratic and honest way. It’s not too late.”
