CAMPAIGNERS in Wickford have warned that a battle to save an open green space in the town is far from over and they have expressed anxiety about possible changes of mind by a leading councillor.

The Wickford Save Open Space group are concerned over what appear to be changes of mind by prominent local councillor David Harrison who joined the campaigners in opposing development of Wick Green in his election campaign but now appears to be supporting the building of a care home on the site.

Cllr Harrison's support for development of the site for a care home can be viewed via this link.

Leaving the site in a green state is a lynchpin policy of the Conservative administration that regained control of the council earlier this year.

A proposal to reverse an earlier decision to sell the site for development is due to be debated, with a recommendation to reverse it, at next week's meeting of Basildon Council's Policy Executive Committee.

The recommendation says: "Following the recent elections, this report proposes to rescind the decision to dispose of the site and retain the land as open space in its current condition. Development on this site is not supported locally and bringing this site forward for development does not meet the current ambitions of the new administration."

Despite this, the campaigners fear Cllr Harrison may wish to see the site developed as a care home and he has called for further consultation on the matter, even though at a previous extraordinary meeting of the council Cllr Harrison voted against a Wickford Town centre consultation.

In a statement the Wickford SOS group say: "Let's not assume the campaign is over until we have crossed the finish line, to protect Wick Green permanently.

"It's clear that Cllr Harrison has changed his mind and appears to have forgotten the history and the strength of public feeling. He has referred to campaigners as the '25 keyboard warriors' rather than supporting the 468 objectors who have signed a petition against the development, his own 2019 election campaign, the 798 residents who responded our survey supporting a full consultation and the many voters who supported him when he stood with campaigners on Wick Green during his 2019 election campaign.

"We are not an anti-development or anti town centre regeneration but we are pro green spaces and expect local signatories to honour their pledges or have the decency to explain why these cannot be achieved.

"Let's not take the pressure off the new administration. We hope they prove better for their word than their predecessors, only residents can hold an administration to account so let's do that."

Anyone wanting to find out more about this issue can contact the campaigners by email on [email protected] or via the group's Facebook page.