TOWNSPEOPLE are being urged to attend next week's public inquiry into a plan to build 150 homes on the former allotment land at Spitalcroft, off London Road.

Alan Padwick, chairman of the Save Our Spitalcroft community action group says that, even if they do not intend to say anything, it is important for local residents to come to the town hall next Tuesday to show the strength of feeling in the area against the plan. Robert Hitchins Homes intends to build 150 or more houses on the land, formerly owned by St Mary's Church and Poorlands Charity and run as allotments by the town council.

Next week's inquiry will be the latest battle in a six-year struggle to save the land as open space, especially as the nearby area between London Road and Quakers Walk has been identified as housing development land in the replacement local plan. Save Our Spitalcroft has already submitted its proof of evidence to the Planning Inspectorate, opposing the plans.

Mr Padwick laid out the group's position. He said: "It is becoming vital to the town to preserve this green space to relieve the carpet of housing built in recent years and yet to be built on the north-east side of the town.

"Second, the traffic that will be generated by all the new housing approved in the local plan is going to overload our already straining medieval road layout, and we cannot tolerate another 200 cars from an unplanned development.

"Third, there is no suitable land to substitute for Spitalcroft as allotments, in spite of strenuous efforts by the developers to convince us otherwise."