CAMPAIGNERS are outraged that a long battle to save the Medi Parc site from development appears to have failed.
Their application for village green status was heard in a 14-day public inquiry in March this year, but the planning inspector who conducted the hearing recommended last week that Hillingdon Council reject the application.
Harefield Tenants’ and Residents’ Association (HTRA) needed to prove that a significant number of people had used the Hill End Road land for recreation over a 20-year period, but the inspector’s report found there was ‘not a significant number and quality of user’ in the early 1990s.
HTRA represented itself against property company Comer Homes during the inquiry.
“We are gutted,” said Tina Wane, who headed the campaign. “It is such a shock as we really, really thought we had a great case.
“We really weren’t expecting this. We don’t know what more we can do.”
HTRA presented 14 witnesses and 1,500 pages of written evidence to the landmark hearing.
“We didn’t think we would fail,” said Mrs Wane.
She said she does not believe enough weight was given to the residents’ written evidence.
The application was the first of its type submitted to Hillingdon Council, which has now set up a special committee to handle similar submissions.
It has the final say, and will hold a public meeting on January 22, at the civic centre, in Uxbridge High Street.
The Medi Parc site has been closed to the public since Comer Homes bulldozed the land in 2010, in preparation for a complex of 80 luxury apartments, sparking the campaign.
At one point, The Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime Unit ordered a stop to the bulldozing when a protected species of newt was spotted.
Comer Homes did not respond to requests for comment.
