COUNCIL leader Steve Galloway has hit out after villagers launched plans to block a massive York housing scheme by turning part of the site into a village green.

The Press revealed yesterday how the newly formed Friends of Germany Beck was submitting an application to City of York Council for land at Germany Beck, Fulford, to be registered as a green.

The bid could delay or even prevent proposals by Persimmon Homes to build 700 homes and raise the level of the A19 to prevent the road flooding.

The application mirrors one lodged by campaigners at Osbaldwick to get land registered as a green to prevent the 540-home Derwenthorpe development, which is set to go to a public inquiry later this month.

Coun Galloway claimed today that village green legislation was being misused up and down the country to challenge unpopular developments.

He said: "Vexatious applications for village green status represent an unjustifiable burden on the local council taxpayer.

"At this rate, it's going to be difficult soon to find any open space anywhere that someone doesn't think is a village green."

He added that if an application was made, it would be dealt with by the council in the same way as all similar applications.

His Liberal Democrat colleague, Fulford councillor Keith Aspden, has backed the proposals, saying: "It is very important that all residents get an opportunity to make their voices heard about this development, including with the area of open recreation land next to Fordlands Road.

"Many residents from across the area use this land for leisure, for example, walking dogs - and I would urge local residents to attend the future public meeting on this issue. I will continue to support local residents to ensure that their opposition to the single access road is loud and clear."

The Friends have said they plan to hold a public meeting in a few weeks' time and invite all residents of Fulford to hear about the application.

One of the Friends, Karin de Vries, said people lived in Fulford village because it was close to attractive countryside and they used it for recreation.

She said: "To build 700 dwellings on these agricultural fields would mean that local residents will have to walk further to be able to enjoy recreational walks in attractive and tranquil countryside."

She said the Green Belt around York was now under threat, as recent plans for an eco-town near Clifton Moor had shown.

She said: "It seems that, despite their efforts, there is very little that City of York Council can do to stop this undesirable loss of Green Belt land to housing developments, although enough brown field land exists to meet York's housing quotas for many years to come."