Withington Village Green History
The History of the Village Green
In 2006, the “Middle Field”, as it was known back then was owned by a property developer. Under the previous owner it had been used to graze horses but under the property developer it was left to nature and had become overgrown. After failing to obtain planning permission the owner approached Withington Parish Council about buying the land at a price of £200,000, on which he would not negotiate, claiming there was also interest from a family of travellers and a travelling circus!
At the annual village meeting, in April 2006, a committee was formed to look at options for funding the purchase. Information was distributed to every household and pledges to fund the purchase were sought. These pledges raised just over 25% of the purchase price, thanks to some very generous contributions.
Neighbouring properties to the middle field were approached about buying extra land for their gardens and with their agreed purchases this raised just under 25% of the purchase price so we were halfway there.
An approach was made to Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council (SABC) and meetings held with Robin Hooper the then Chief Executive. He was very supportive of our plan to purchase the land and together with the backing from our then SABC councillor, Claire Wild, SABC agreed to put up £50,0000 to become part owners of the land and to lend £50,000 to Withington Parish Council to be able to complete the purchase.
In the summer of 2007, the village green was born, and work began to restore the land to what you now recognise as the village green. The land is owned by Withington Parish Council (2/3) and SABC, now Shropshire Council (1/3) as tenants in common. Though either party could actually sell their share of the land, to preserve the village green, in perpetuity, as land for recreational use only, a deed of dedication was entered into by both owning parties, with the National Playing Fields Association, preventing the land being used for anything other than a village green.
In 2009 Ron Coulson, once of the Shrubbery, donated a strip of land to the village green that enabled the creation of a pedestrian entrance opposite the Hare & Hounds.
SABC had declared that as a condition of their funding they would not be responsible for any maintenance of upkeep of the village green, so the onus was fully on the Parish Council. As the loan is being repaid with funds raised through the precept it was decided that every effort would be made to maintain the village green through voluntary donations, and so the Friends of the Green came into existence and the village green was registered as a charity.
The purchase of our first lawn mower was courtesy of a raffle, thanks to a generous prize donated by Councillor Wild. There have been one off donations from events like the tractor runs and grants from the likes of Veolia but over the years funds raised by Friends of the Green have been the mainstay of funding for regular maintenance and more recently the purchase of our new lawn mower and a set of goalposts.
As a charity, donations attract gift aid which further increases our funding.
If you haven’t already, why not become a Friend of the Green so that your donations can help to ensure that our village green continues to be an asset for our village that we can all enjoy for many years to come.
