JUBILANT Birkby residents emerged from the High Court with another David v Goliath victory.
David Bowen and Bill Magee had been in court to fight to keep ‘village green’ status for Clayton Fields.
And despite the efforts of top barrister George Lawrence QC on behalf of developers Paddico, the pair won another round in the long-running saga to keep the space free of building.
The judge, Mr Justice Sayles, came down in favour of the residents when he turned down Paddico’s appeal against an earlier High Court decision not to remove the ‘village green’ status for the site, which stretches from Halifax Road at Edgerton to Birkby.
The site was designated a village green in 1997 but the local community have had to fight to keep it that way.
The court ruling may not be the end of the matter as there is still scope for Paddico to submit yet another appeal.
But Mr Bowen said: “We are delighted that again a court has backed us.
“It was a long day but again we have won a fight.
“Mr Lawrence argued for 90 minutes that the green registration should be lifted but the judge then spent 45 minutes telling him and the rest of the court why he was rejecting the appeal.
“This is a battle that has been going on for many years but we intend to keep fighting as long as necessary.
“We are still in front and we are absolutely delighted by that.”
