A Norfolk parish council is looking to write to the Secretary of State for Education to help them increase the amount of recreation land in its village.
Norfolk County Council (NCC) is applying to Nadhim Zahawi to use land on the former Woodside Primary and Nursery School site in Firs Road, Hethersett, for affordable housing for people with care and support needs.
The site has been empty since it moved to a new building in Coachmakers Way.
It was revealed NCC, which has been using the former school for storage, is considering selling off its 1.3 acre playing field to a developer.
The proposal would include a mix of apartments to support independent living for older people along with housing for people with disabilities.
But at its latest meeting, members of Hethersett Parish Council came up with an alternative suggestion.
Councillors supported a motion to ask the education secretary for permission to integrate the land into the existing adjacent Memorial Playing Field to provide additional recreational space in keeping with the land’s former use as a children’s play area at the school.
Council member Mike Stark, who is also a trustee of the Memorial Playing Field Management Committee, put forward the idea of additional playing field space: “The playing field is a village amenity of long standing and I believe the former school land should be integrated into the existing field,” he said.
Fellow councillor Jonathan Loome said: “We do not want to lose the land. We have had 50 years of development in the village and integrating this land would be providing something beneficial within the village.”
Council chairman Adrienne Quinlan said: “This resource should not be lost to the village and should be added to the existing playing field so it can continue to be used by local children and residents as an amenity area.”
Fellow councillor Bridget Williamson urged a more cautious approach, saying: “It would be rather rash for us to say we would adopt this new land without knowing the financial position."
The council agreed to write to the Education Secretary stating its views.
Norfolk County Council has said that if the plans for affordable homes on the land fail to come to fruition it would be offered for sale on the open market.
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