Ballot on whether Wenny Meadow in Chatteris should be developed
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A housing development is proposed on Wenny Road Meadow, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire
Residents of a town are voting in a public poll on whether a meadow should be protected from development.
Chatteris Town Council in Cambridgeshire is staging the vote on the future of Wenny Meadow, where developers want to build 95 homes.
According to campaigners, the land is home to "priority species".
The result will not be binding, but supporters hoped their views would be considered by planners at Fenland District Council.
Tawny owls (like this one pictured elsewhere) is one of the many species campaigners say have been spotted at the meadow
Friends of Wenny Road Meadows supporter, Kirsty Patterson
Friends of Wenny Road Meadows supporter, Kirsty Patterson, said hoped the poll "would give weight to any decision on planning matters".
Supporters said it was home to bats, owls, snakes, woodpeckers, hedgehogs, shrews, voles and toads, as well as trees and was the only natural green space, external within walking distance of the town centre.
Kevin Hand, of the Cambridge Natural History Society, said while the poll would not be able to decide an area's future, it could show what it meant to the community, which wanted to protect species covered by the UK biodiversity action plan, external.
"It's another tool in our armoury to protect wild sites. We're losing sites to development all the time," he said.
Kevin Hand, of the Cambridge Natural History Society
The Friends would like the meadow to to be given local green space designation, external.
Fenland District Council said land could only be designated as green space in its local plan.
It was currently preparing a new local plan, the first draft of which will be presented to its cabinet on 13 June.
A ballot is taking place for people to express their support or otherwise for the meadow being developed
Chatteris Town Council has already said there were no reasons in planning terms to recommend refusal of development of the meadow.
The ballot, external will be overseen by Fenland District Council and voting can take place between 16:00 and 21:00 BST on Tuesday.
The wording says: "Would you like Wenny Meadow to be designated as a local green space and protected from development? Yes or No."
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