A LEGACY of land to be passed down through the ages for the benefit of the residents of Alcester has seen the town triumph at the sixth annual Fields in Trust awards.
And Alcester town and district councillors Eric Payne and Mike Gittus were at Lord’s Cricket Ground where they also discovered the town had triumphed in the Local Authority Partner of the Year category.
Coun Gittus said: “Eric and I were gobsmacked.
“I was filming the awards on my phone when they said Alcester was the winner, I was so surprised, Eric nudged me and I dropped my phone.”
The town council’s vision is to create a ‘green river corridor’ along the banks of the River Arrow and to that aim they’ve already registered four areas with Fields in Trust.
These are Jubilee Field, the Nature Reserve, Abbey Fields and just recently Centenary Field, although Coun Gittus will not reveal the latter’s location yet as it is to mark 100 years since the end of the First World War next year on November 11, 2018.
“We want to provide as much green open space as possible for the community of Alcester,” he said.
“By registering it with Fields in Trust, formerly the National Playing Fields Association, it means that this land will be protected in perpetuity, long after we are dead and buried.”
In a competitive category it was Alcester Town Council’s working relationship with Fields in Trust which pushed them ahead of the opposition and tv presenter Jacqui Oatley was there to hand over the award to the stunned councillors.
