THE battle to save threatened greens on a Heston estate has stepped up after residents applied to give them protected status.
Householders on the Brabazon Road estate have submitted three separate applications to have the open spaces officially recognised as 'town or village greens'.
It is more than two years since Hounslow Homes first announced plans to build more than 120 properties on the estate, including some on the main green between Brabazon Road and Cobham Road.
The proposals have since been scaled back to 60 homes but still include building on the land between Brabazon Road and Cranford Lane, and on the so-called 'small green' between Johnson Road and Brabazon Road.
Registering threatened land as a village green is a common tactic used by campaigners fighting developments in their neighbourhoods.
Sandra Middleton, who led the initial campaign against proposals to build on the main green, submitted an application to protect it last December.
Applications for the smaller patches of land - submitted by Debbie Noad and a Mr M Kumar respectively - were received more recently. To be successful the land in question must have been used for 'lawful sports and pastimes for a period of at least 20 years'.
Ms Middleton said: "This estate's been here for 50-odd years and it's always been used for recreation - we've now got Brentford FC holding coaching sessions for youngsters."
Terrence Noad, of Brabazon Road, whose daughter submitted the second application for 'village green' status, said 300 people had signed a petition in the summer to protect it.
The athletics coach said he had used the land to train promising youngsters and it was regularly used for cricket.
A spokeswoman for Hounslow Homes said it would shortly be submitting an application for new homes on the small green and the Brabazon Road/ Cranford Lane green.
"We do not intend to build on the large Brabazon green, which was withdrawn from our development proposals following extensive consultation with local residents," she said.
"The other two areas are included in our new-build proposals, which we believe will improve the estate and provide much-needed affordable housing."
