Landkey Village

In Brief  

In Brief

Find the Landkey Village Open Forum on:

Next Event

Our next village event will be Parish Council Meeting on 4th October 2023 at 7:00 PM in The Old School Centre, Manor Road

Parish Council

Read the Parish Council Minutes of 2nd August 2023

Our next Parish Council meeting will be on 4th October 2023 at 7:00 PM in The Old School Centre, Manor Road

Community Information

MP Selaine Saxby

Mobile library timetable

Millennium Green

Latest News

LUC grants

Landkey organisations or individuals might be eligible for a grant through Landkey United Charities.

Newsletter

Read the latest
Landkey Newsletter
here

Recent Images

The mazzard blossom on the Millennium Green seemed to be at its best on 21st April 2023. Image courtesy of Charles Waldron 21st April 2023.

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Landkey Millennium Green

History

The story of how the Green came into being is somewhat of a source of pride in the village. In the late 1990s, when local leaders learnt to their dismay that plans to build a substantial housing development on the green fields in that part of the village were in progress, they decided to act. Fearing the detrimental effect that a building project of that magnitude would have on the character of the village and its amenities, the Parish Council under the leadership of Richard (Dick) Joy began a relentless and protracted campaign to persuade the builders to abandon their plans.

The Parish Council's campaign took them eventually to Westminster where the government ruled that the planned development should not go ahead. It seems that the government's basis for this decision was that a large housing project visible from the North Devon Link road was not in keeping with the rural nature of this area. It was with much relief that the land which now forms the Millennium Green was donated by Pearce Construction Ltd to the Parish Council to be used henceforth as a recreational facility for the village.

With the Green now preserved for future generations the village leaders turned their attention to sourcing funding to enable its development as an amenity. With the year 2000 approaching, initiatives to mark the new millennium were being funded by the Millennium Commission which received £2.7bn of National Lottery money for this purpose. It was to this source, through the Countryside Agency as part of the government's initiative to create new public open spaces, that the newly-created Landkey Millennium Green trust applied for funds and was successfully awarded £35000.

A portion of this money was used to create paths across the former farmland and to install picnic tables and seats to enable villagers to gain access to and enjoy this new amenity. A further sum was set aside for the planting of a mazzard orchard, more details on which can be read under "Mazzards".

Images of the Millennium Green - how it all began (click to enlarge)

Millennium Green opening day, 24th June 2000. Standing, l-r: Dave Butt (District Councillor), Kate Ashbrook (a member of the Countryside Agency board and access officer for the Ramblers' Association), Richard (Dick) Joy (Landkey Parish Councillor), Michael Gee (a planner who played a large part in submitting the funding bid for the Green), Nick Harvey (MP), Norman Tucker (farmer on whose land the Green was created). Seated, l-r: Lyn Morton (Landkey Parish Councillor), Jane Barton (Millennium Green Trust secretary), Karen Trigger (Millennium Green Trustee), Mrs Tucker. Image courtesy of Karen Trigger. Millennium Green opening day, 24th June 2000, with mazzard sapling. L-r: Michael Knight (County Councillor), Kate Ashbrook, Dave Butt, Dave Parsons (Pearce Construction Ltd), Dick Joy, Norman Tucker, Jane Barton and Karen Trigger. Image courtesy of Karen Trigger. Millennium Green opening day, 24th June 2000. Kate Ashbrook, Dick Joy and Nick Harvey display the newly-created "Millennium Greens Breathing Spaces" plaque. Image courtesy of Karen Trigger. Pioneers of the Millennium Green gather for a picture after planting mazzards in December 1999. Dick Joy can be seen seated next to the Landkey Millennium Green sign. Image courtesy of Karen Trigger. Children were involved in the planting of mazzards on the Millennium Green in December 1999. Image courtesy of Karen Trigger. As the 21st anniversary of the establishment of the Green arrives in 2020, it is interesting to wonder where these children who would now be in their 30s, are and what they are doing. Image courtesy of Karen Trigger.