A CALL for an online vote is being made to prevent developers taking over a popular site used by sports clubs.
Thousands from across Kirklees have used West Mills Playing Fields in Battyeford and now a sports club president is asking that the community should band together and secure its future – forever.
Keith Johnson, president of Battyeford Sporting Club, is asking people to go online and vote for the fields to become recognised as a Queen Elizabeth II Field.
With enough votes the land, off Huddersfield Road, will be placed in trust as a permanent legacy of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics.
Prince William launched the trust to protect the country’s green spaces .
Mr Johnson, 70, said: “The club’s fields at West Mills have been threatened with development in the past– particularly with John Cotton’s bid to turn it into a lorry park and more recently the attempts by British Waterways to sell the triangle of land at Halfpenny Bridge.Š
“The club has been working in the background to try and further secure the land against attempts to commandeer its use.”
Mr Johnson said people used the land for dog walking and walks by the river while all ages enjoy the facilities at the community sports club.
He said: “There aren’t a lot of play areas in Mirfield and everything is under threat from development.
“There is a long history of these fields in Mirfield and we’ve had battles in the past to keep them for recreational use.
“This way the fields would be held in trust and would be safe from attack from developers.”
You have one month to vote for your local space.
Visit www.qe2fields.com to vote, quoting the postcode WF14OEE.
If you search by your own postcode, you will find all the sites that have been put forward for nomination near you.
