PLANS to turn a village green into a wildflower meadow have been abandoned following opposition from concerned residents.
The idea to plant flowers on Whorlton village green was floated by members of the parish council.
However, the scheme did not go down well with residents.
A petition against the plans was signed by 15 villagers and handed in to the parish council ahead of its March meeting last week.
It asked that full access to the village green be maintained so people could roam on it without any restrictions and that it not be turned into a meadow.
In addition, two residents attended the meeting to voice their thoughts.
One suggested putting in flowering trees if the parish council was keen to go ahead with some sort of planting on the green.
“Cheery trees or flowering trees would not require the same maintenance as wildflowers,” she said
She added that while gardens bordering the green looked good, the green itself was a “big patch of rough grass which needs something to lift it”.
She said: “Flowering trees would be rather pretty and beneficial to the village.”
Parish councillors were told that rather than planting on the green, they should consider putting wildflowers on the verges at the entrances to the village.
Once members were told of the petition, they agreed to drop any plans for planting on the green, while the idea of putting flowers at the entrances to the village will be discussed further at a future meeting.
Chairwoman Cllr Lucy Hoskyns-Abrahall said she was pleased residents had made their views known.
“We have had quite a lot of feedback. I think we take note of the comments,” she added.
Cllr Lynda Powell said the council had plenty of other big projects to keep busy with during the coming year, most notably improvements to the play park.
She also thanked residents for their feedback on the village green.
Meanwhile, parish councillors are considering guidelines aimed at residents whose homes border the village green.
Clerk Jonathan Dickinson said the idea of a policy regarding properties edging the village green had first been raised about 18 months ago.
“There are two questions to ask – do we want to establish a general policy that will apply across the board and is this something we can all agree on?”
Cllr Hoskyns-Abrahall suggested guidelines would offer more flexibility when dealing with village green issues rather than a fixed policy.
“We are trying to protect the village green to the extent we can. It is a ‘just in case’ situation,” she said.
Cllr George Stastny said the idea was to maintain the status quo.
“We should object to any encroachment on the green. We should be vigilant and make people aware who may be affected by it (the policy/guidelines).”
