Fear that our land will be lost

I refer here to the 90 page report and recommendations, (now approved by the WDC executive), for the future development of St Mary’s Lands. As a somewhat naive and optimistic resident, I had thought that the role of WDC was to implement policies for the benefit of the whole community. Yet a quick reading of the full document shows that the report is clearly biased in favour of allowing Warwick Racecourse to maximise profits (that is evident from inaccurate statements quoted that have been repeated from the past hotel planning application), possibly at the expense of future access to St Mary’s Lands by WDC residents and possibly a financial loss to WDC income.

To recap, the area now referred to as St Mary’s Lands was “common land” until “possessed”, by the then Warwick Corporation, in 1948.

In 1975, after a bitterly fought Arbitration Hearing, WDC took possession of the area from the Warwick Town Council. At that hearing, Mr C. J. George, of WDC, promised, on behalf on the new WDC, that the area, described as “open space lands, public parks and pleasure grounds”, would be used “neither more nor less” than the town council would (yet I have heard that Warwick Town Council did not have the opportunity to submit a formal comment).

WDC seems intent on implementing what appears to be a very biased report in favour of Warwick Racecourse without any WDC residents being given the opportunity to even see the report (prior to the issue of the executive agenda), let alone have a valid input.

We have often heard the phrase, “the tail wagging the dog”. My initial reading of the strategy report and the WDC “recommendations” indicates, perhaps, that “the horses tail is wagging the WDC”.

Time will tell if my fears for the future recreational facilities for WDC residents at St Mary’s Lands are correct or not.

Peter Kerr, address supplied