A North Yorkshire community is celebrating after coming together to secure the future of their village park.
Residents of North Cowton, between Darlington and Northallerton, have successfully applied for the village’s recreational grounds to be listed on North Yorkshire Council’s register of assets of community value.
The status means the community is given time to raise funds to buy the site if the owner, also the council, ever decides to sell the land.
The application was submitted after the local authority revealed plans to sell off an area of the park for private gardens.
Details of the sale emerged at a time when the majority of North Cowton Parish Council had resigned, leaving it without enough members to make decisions.
This prompted 30 local residents to form the group, Protect Our Park North Cowton, which held public meetings and delivered flyers to residents.
North Yorkshire Council later decided against selling the land due to the opposition from the group and others in the village.
But the residents still pressed ahead with the community asset application to protect the site in the future.
Villager and member of Protect Our Park, Heather Minto, said: “We’re a small, rural but tightly knit and caring community whose residents, old and young, rely on the park as it is one of the only social and recreational spaces in our village.
“I’m proud of what we’ve achieved by working together to show we value our community spaces.”
Villagers contributed to the successful asset of community value nomination through answering a survey explaining how they used the park.
Heather added: “They told us how the park was important to them in various different ways, from events like our annual village sports day, fundraisers for the primary school, treasure hunts and football games to just playing with friends, enjoying the peace and tranquillity, den building in the trees, holding birthday parties and even using it to practise snowboarding in the winter.”
The park includes a tennis court, children’s playpark, football pitch and meadow.
It hosts regular community activities, including pickleball sessions and a weekly village football match.
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