Cabinet Report Recommends No Sale

🌿 An important update on Burlish Meadows

We have some very encouraging news.

Wyre Forest District Council has now published the report that will go to Overview & Scrutiny on 15 October, ahead of Cabinet on 21 October.

The officer recommendation is that the proposed disposal should NOT go ahead and that the whole of Burlish Country Park should remain in Council ownership.

This is not the final decision, so we are not claiming victory yet. But it is a very significant change from the position in July, when the Council agreed in principle to dispose of approximately 8.5 hectares of the Country Park.

And your support has mattered.

The Council received 656 individual consultation responses, of which 650 — 99% — objected to the disposal.

Our petition has also been formally considered as part of the decision-making process. The Friends of Burlish Meadows Petition Evidence Report has been included in full in the papers being put before councillors, and the Council has considered not only the number of signatures but the local support and the reasons people gave for protecting the Meadows.

The report concludes that the biodiversity, open-space, accessibility and community benefits of retaining the land outweigh the potential benefits of disposal and development.

That reflects so many of the concerns raised through this petition and through the hundreds of individual objections submitted to the Council.

So thank you.

Thank you for signing, sharing, commenting, submitting objections and helping make sure the value of Burlish Meadows could not be overlooked.

The petition made a difference.
The individual objections made a difference.
People speaking up made a difference.

There are still two important stages to come:

📅 15 October — Overview & Scrutiny
📅 21 October — Cabinet

And even if Cabinet accepts the recommendation, we believe there will still be an important conversation about how Burlish Meadows can be protected for the longer term, so that we are not facing the same threat again in the future.

For now though, this is a very encouraging step.

Thank you to everyone who has stood up for Burlish Meadows. 🌿🐝🦋