A new campaign group set up to save playing fields in Acomb from being used for housing development has attracted huge support from residents of all ages.
Labour Councillor for Acomb Ward, Stuart Barnes, called the public meeting to bring the local community together after council bosses identified the playing fields of the former Manor School site on Boroughbridge Road as an area to be used for housing.
More than 80 residents attended the meeting at Lidgett Methodist Church, which discussed the history of the site which had been known as Acomb Park in the 19th Century, long before it became Manor School in 1965. Click here for the York Press article.
Rachael Maskell MP, who also attended the meeting, says:
“It was great to see such strong support and so many residents getting involved to safeguard the future of the park.
“The Labour Party in York recognises the need for more housing, particularly affordable housing in the city. Without it, we will continue to see many working people struggle to buy homes in York, and will see rents continue to rise, making life harder for people and making it more difficult for York to attract the key workers it needs such as nurses, teachers and social workers.
“Nevertheless, the British Sugar site in Acomb is already going to provide more than a thousand homes, and the area needs to preserve this green space for the benefit of residents.
“Instead, York’s Tories and Lib Dems have cynically tried to include the playing fields in addition to the British Sugar site, as a way to shoehorn more housing into the centre of York while reducing numbers of homes being built elsewhere. What’s more, rather than making a public announcement they have instead tried to sneak the change through by burying it within 800 pages of technical reports.”