THE formal registration of a new town green has protected the land from development following a four-year saga.

The Open Spaces Society (OSS) announced that the town green and public footpath at Coral Springs in Witney is now official.

Oxfordshire County Council, the registration authority, has recorded the area between Thorney Leys and the A40, as a town green, bringing to an end a long battle for OSS.

The society said that in building an estate of retirement homes in 2016, Richmond Village ‘illegally blocked’ a public footpath by building a house across it.

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An OSS statement read: “Belatedly Richmond applied to move the path, but the Open Spaces Society objected, because it was an important route between Witney and open countryside to the south, and the proposed diversion was longer and less pleasant.

“The objection would have halted the development by some months, costing the builders time and money.

“The society used this as a lever to persuade Richmond to dedicate a new path through the estate, and a new town green.

“In return, the society withdrew its objection to the path diversion.

“Witney people now have the right to enjoy the two and a half acre green for what the law terms ‘lawful sports and pastimes’, namely informal recreation such as walking, jogging, dog walking, casual ball games, and other activities.”

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The society’s general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, emphasised that ‘status as town green protects the land permanently against development’.

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Bev Ingram, operations manager for Richmond Witney said: “Our connections with the local community are hugely important at Richmond Witney.

“This pathway and village green have been open to the public since 2016, when the village was built.

“Our plans always included access to the public green as we believe it plays an important role in our residents’ wellbeing and helps them stay connected with the local community.

“We worked closely with the Open Spaces Society over four years ago to agree the route for the pathway.

“We also installed a new public crossing to make it more accessible, which has been in place for some time.”

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A spokesperson for Bupa, which Richmond is part of, emphasised that the pathway and the green have been publicly accessible since 2016, and plans for the village have always included access to a public green, with no proposals to ever change this.

OSS added that now the green has been registered by the county council, it is formally open for use, not only by the residents of Richmond’s estate, but the wider public.

Also now open is a new path running north-south across the site, forming a pedestrian route between Thorney Leys and the countryside south of the A40.

Founded in 1865 as the Commons Preservation Society, OSS is Britain’s oldest national conservation body.

Two of its founders went on to set up the National Trust in 1895.