We Call on Bedford Borough Council to do everything in their power to save the Great Denham Kickabout Area from development. This Green Space in the Centre of the Village is of huge benefit to the Residents and Businesses of Great Denham.
The Kickabout is used daily by children and adults as a safe central place for informal meet ups and games. Local businesses such as Active Pack and Rugby Tots use the Kickabout for children's sports when the weather is fine. The proximity of the Kickabout to the Great Denham Community Hall means that it is ideal for this use as parents and children are close to drinking water and toilet facilities.
Great Denham Community Hall holds two Annual events on the Kickabout: the Winter Wonderland and the Summer Fair. The latter of these has been held on the Kickabout regularly since 2012. The Community Hall's recent Big Comeback, a post Covid-19 replacement for the Summer Fair was attended by over 1300 local children and adults. Large inflatable slides, Bouncy Castles, and a Marquee with Fete Games, Live Music and Craft Stalls were all laid out on the Kickabout. This kind of event would be impossible to hold without the open green space of the Kickabout being adjacent to the Community Hall facilities.
We believe that the planning application submitted to Bedford Borough Council for 101 houses on the parcel of land that includes the Kickabout would, if it is passed, result in the loss of a community asset of immense social value to Great Denham. We ask that Bedford Borough Council use whatever means they can to preserve the Kickabout Area for the use of the Great Denham Community. We also ask that the separate planning issue of land for the essential expansion of the Great Denham Primary School playing field is not affected in any way by the said preservation of the Kickabout.