More than 150 people join community walk in Linslade on land threatened by development
More than 150 people joined a community walk in Linslade over the weekend as part of a campaign to save greenbelt land threatened by development.
Organised by the Future of Linslade group, the walk was attended by 174 people, ranging from babies to octogenarians.
It followed two public rights of way as well as the Rock Lane bridleway, which is part of a 149-hectare site included in the Call for Sites for Central Bedfordshire Council’s local plan.
Residents have until August 17 to respond to the consultation, before Central Bedfordshire Council reviews the consultation responses, alongside technical evidence, as part of its assessment of the sites.
Reflecting on the walk, Emily Shenton from the Future of Linslade group said: “Young children talked about how much they love the nature on the land and bringing their dogs for walks.
“Older residents talked about bringing their now-grown children to the fields to play cowboys and indians.
“We counted the trees along the route and found well over 50 mature large trees.
“More than 100 people who walked had completed their responses, with many taking paper forms for neighbours who may find the tech platform hard to navigate.”
Southcott town councillor James Emm, who has backed the Future of Linslade campaign, was among the attendees on the walk.
Cllr Emm told us: “It was great to see so many people of all ages turn up.
"There was a real sense of community spirit. The turn out goes to show how important this green space is for residents.”
Central Bedfordshire Council say no decisions have been made regarding which sites will be included, with a spokesperson previously telling the LBO: “The purpose of the current consultation is to gather views on all submitted sites before any decisions are made.
"All sites will be assessed against a wide range of planning considerations, including environmental impacts, transport, access to infrastructure, landscape, heritage, flood risk and national planning policy, alongside the views received through the consultation.”