It has been in the pipe line that the Council wants to sell off land at West Shepton football ground for housing .I've just been reading that there is an obscure Victorian Law an almost forgotten legislation that land given to the council for the benefit of the community is subject to a reverter clause, if land ceases to be used for it's intended purpose and is sold or leased, the proceeds have to go back to the original owner - or more likely their descendants. Mr Rugg a West Shepton farmer left this land to the people of Shepton in his will. My brother who lives at West Shepton actually has this mentioned in his deeds. So therefore the council have no legal right to sell this land to a developer .Should they use the proceeds to relocate the football grounds. What do you think any comments.

The palying fields at West Shepton, both the football ground and the former cricket field, should be left available for the recreational benefit of the people of Shepton forever, full stop! Not just until 2026 then to be reviewed again!
If the land was left to the people of Shepton by Mr Rugg, do the council have any legal right to say what should or what should not happen to thies area?
At present Shepton Mallet creicket team play at Oakhill - i also believe that one of the Shepton footabll teams also play at Oakhill (?). This does not seem right given that there is space for both to play on the old cricket filed.

It is my opinion that all of the groups mentioned by John Parnham should be given a lease of at least 50 years; the old cricket field should also be set aside for recreation for the same length of time.

There is already a skate park and a bmx track there, but these facilities as good as they may be, are mainly used by youngsters and maybe on occassions deter others from staying too long in the area.

This area should be used by the children and the adults of Shepton on a more regular basis. There is no reason why the youth / adult footabll and cricket teams should not use the area for 12 months of the year. The area could then may become a focal point for the many instead of a few.

I note from the councils own planning site that the football club had an application to errect a building that was never built. I can only assume that this was due to the uncertainty over the long-term use of the area (silly to spend thousands of pounds without the guarantee of how many years you can use it for). This building if built could have been used by the youth football teams and the cricket teams (replacing the old cricket pavillion).

All that i ever read in the local journal is councillors sniping at one another, he said this and she said that, we can do it better then they can etc etc etc; well here is a chance for the council to get some good press.

State that these tenants will be given 50 year leases and the cricket field will not be used for housing for at least 50 years. The various clubs involved can then look to invest in facilities to ensure that the people of Shepton can make best use of these areas.

The people of Shepton do not want anymore houses built on reacreational land in Shepton (build them in Wells or Glastonbury where there is more space, infrastructure, employment, social facilities); the people that buy these houses would not work in or spend there money in Shepton anyway.....