I am grateful to Rosemary Honey, a long-term resident in Sunningwell, for confirming that "there was only one reason why 'certain persons' told 'porkies' about the usage of the Glebe and that was to stop the church from building on it" (Oxford Mail, August 30).
Sunningwell Parish Council of the 1990s hoodwinked the Law Lords into believing that, at that time, the Glebe Field had been commonly used for more than 20 years. This was palpably untrue, as many living there then would, I feel sure, confirm if asked.
So what is the result of this action by the parish council in the 1990s?
a) the church has lost control over its own land b) Sunningwell can no longer use part of the one-time Glebe Field to extend the churchyard as burials are not permitted by statute on common land. Expensive land will have to be purchased elsewhere for another burial ground c) What is Sunningwell left with? An overgrown, unsightly field which is clearly little used by the parishioners, if at all, but no-one seems to care.
The present Sunningwell Parish Council cannot be held responsible for the actions of its predecessors in the 1990s.
But I hope, as a one-time resident in Sunningwell from 1948 until 1983, that parishioners will urge the parish council, or whoever else will accept responsibility, to try to ensure that something is put in place now to make the residents of Sunningwell proud of its village green again.
John Greening Cheltenham
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