FIELDS and playing areas in the UK’s fastest-growing borough could be saved from development.

Colchester Council has started the process of placing some of the town’s diminishing open spaces “in perpetuity”, effectively giving them permanent protection from housing and other building plans.

A new scheme is seeing the council apply to place the popular playing fields, off Ford’s Lane, in Mile End, in a trust.

Councillors and campaigners will then be asked to nominate any other sites they would like to see protected.

Bob Penny, the council’s parks and recreation manager, said: “Protection safeguards the provision of this site for future generations.

“It demonstrates to residents we are serious about this area being retained as recreational land.”

The scheme, called the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge, is being led by Fields in Trust, an independent body which protects outdoor sports and play spaces.

Mr Penny said once the Mile End application had been accepted, hopefully by the autumn, the land would permanently remain as football pitches.

He added: “Principally, we enter into this deed of dedication that says the land will remain as recreational space.

“Should things change significantly, there is a means by which the land could become de-restricted, but that would need the support of Fields in Trust.

“It would need to be satisfied with the reasons we’re doing it.”

At the very least, the council would have to offer to protect a similar-sized plot of land.

In addition, Friends in Trust would have to be convinced the proposals would not harm the ability of residents to enjoy sport and recreation in Colchester.

Under the scheme, the council would still own the site, and would still be responsible for maintaining it.

The Ford’s Lane recreation ground had been mooted as the possible site for a secondary school in the north of Colchester, although no firm proposals were made.

The land is already protected from development in Colchester Council’s local development framework, but giving it Friends in Trust protection adds an additional obstacle in the path of any developer wishing to build there in future.

Anne Turrell, leader of Colchester Council, has been a prime advocate for more protection of Colchester’s dwindling stock of fields.

She said: “This move is brilliant. I would like all open spaces in Colchester to have this added layer of protection, and I am very pleased Mile End is the pilot.”

It has also been welcomed by David Clouston, whose Love Myland campaign collected 1,234 signatures from local residents opposed to plans to build as many as 2,200 homes off Nayland Road.

He said he believed the campaign had helped secure the future of the pitches, playground and pavilion at Ford’s Lane.

Mr Clouston added: “I think the residents will feel very pleased about this.

“It’s been great work by our local councillors, and I think the petition certainly helped.

“It was a lot of work by a lot of people and I’m sure it wouldn’t have happened without it.”