VILLAGERS who feared they could lose their village green are celebrating.

Talks to save the green patch of land off Penistone Road, Shelley, seem to have been successfully concluded.

Kirklees Council’s Cabinet last night agreed to pay £4,450 for the freehold of the green.

Residents thought the land was theirs for ever, after it was designated a village green 15 years ago.

So they were stunned when a for sale sign appeared and it turned out the land was being put up for auction by developers.

Now, however, there is a bright future.

Talks between Kirklees Council and owners Barratt David Wilson Homes about a proposal to allow the council to buy the land ended yesterday with a deal.

The company has confirmed that it wanted to sell the freehold of the site and it was hopeful of a deal being agreed with Kirklees Council.

Local councillor Christine Smith said: “I’m very happy about this. The council now owns the green and it will remain as it has been in the past. It will be a relief to all the people who have been worried about this”.

The news follows a public meeting organised by Shelley Community Association attended by more than 50 concerned villagers.

They were shocked to find it was for sale.

Despite a ceremony marking Shelley Village Green’s special status in 1995, it appears that it was not in fact Kirklees Council’s to give.

The owners Barratt David Wilson erected signs notifying the public of an upcoming auction by Eddison’s auctioneers.

But a spokesman for the firm said last night: “We only want to sell off the freehold and there are no plans to develop on the site.

“Kirklees Council has signified an interest and we are hopeful of an agreement”.

Dewsbury MP Shahid Malik had written to residents saying there were serious concerns about the plot “falling into the wrong hands”.

He says there may be an “in-principle” agreement to remove the site from the auction with the aim of Shelley Community Association (SCA) and Kirklees Council taking ownership.

At the public meeting, one proposal was for the village to come up with the funds to bid for the land, which they say is a vital resource for the young and old.

Shelley ward councillor and vice chairman of the association, Malcolm McDonald, said: “The meeting has been held because of the urgency of the situation and was prompted by for sale notices which went up on the green about a fortnight ago.

“In 1995 it was registered as a village green and I’m not sure that the people who put the signs up are aware of that.

“I don’t think they saw it as relevant to the sale.

“I believe some people at Kirklees Council assumed it was theirs.

“There may have been uncertainty because it has never needed to be discussed. This is the first time anything like this has come up”.

It was the first village green to be established within the Kirklees Council area and Shelley has provided the ‘know how’ to other villages since.