A community leader has welcomed royal approval for a Whitchurch park.
After topping a national vote, Daniel Park will be renamed Queen Elizabeth II Park and will be permanently protected as part of an initiative for the Queen’s diamond jubilee this summer.
Campaign leader Whitchurch councillor Keith Watts will urge Basingstoke borough council chiefs to give a pledge to protect the green site at a committee meeting this week.
Last year, the council put forward 14 parks to the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge, run by charity National Playing Fields Association as part of the Fields in Trust initiative.
A national vote saw the site top the poll with 330 votes – 94 votes more than the second highest park in Basingstoke.
“Following last year’s success in winning the national Race to Infinity for high speed broadband, this confirms the reputation of Whitchurch as a lively centre of positive community spirit,” said Cllr Watts.
Cllr Watts told the Basingstoke Observer that the designation of the borough-owned land will provide protection from building.
“It is important because three years ago we were fighting off attempts to develop Daniel’s Park for housing,” he said.
“By winning the vote, we have designated it as a park forever and the council would not be able to build on it.”
The Fields in Trust initiative means that the council agrees that the land can only be used as a public playing field.
At a full council meeting last month, Cllr Watts proposed a motion urging the borough council to start the process of setting up the park’s protected status.
Plans for the area’s future will be discussed at a borough committee meeting this week, and Cllr Watts said he will call for a park manager to oversee its management.
And Whitchurch mayor Cllr Barry Jackman said he hopes the park will be the centre of celebrations for the Queen’s diamond jubilee.
“We are very excited about the whole thing,” he said. “Now the park belongs to Whitchurch for a long time.”
