OPPONENTS of proposals to build homes on land next to St Mary's Church in Market Lavington have vowed to stand as members of the community hall trust at its next meeting.

Trustees present at a public meeting on March 23 welcomed a suggestion that objectors should apply to become trustees at the trust's next annual meeting.

The meeting, at the Old School, attracted about 40 villagers, including members of the trust and the parish council.

Protesters who called the meeting are angry that the trust, which failed to attract Lottery funding for its plans to build a new village hall on land beside the church, is now planning to build a terrace of cottages on part of the site to raise money to build the hall.

Since the meeting an action group has been formed called Campaign Against Residential Development (Community Hall Site).

Chairman of the action group, Jason Kent, who led last Tuesday night's meeting, said he and his colleagues were not against the building of a village hall, merely against the building of homes on that piece of land.

The land, which has been bought by the parish council and is leased to the trust at a peppercorn rent, is a village amenity and opponents feel none of it should be used for housing.

One of them, Jackie Clark, said: "We need new blood on the trust, proactive people prepared to work for this community, not stand in opposition to us for the sake of it."