The chief officer of Congleton Town Council said he felt like a “rabbit in headlights” when land in the town with “great historical value” was put up for auction.
Priesty Fields in Congleton went under the hammer with Butters John Bee last month and sold for £132,500 to a Congleton resident.
At a Congleton Town Council meeting last week, chief officer David McGifford said he was still working with Cheshire East Council to register the land as an asset of community value.
Awarding the status to the land would grant the local community voting rights and extra time to try to raise money to buy the asset, if the owner decided to sell.
Mr McGifford said the deadline to provide Cheshire East Council with information for the application was yesterday (Wednesday), and a decision would be made in the coming weeks.
He said: “There is potential to talk to the new owner further down the line.
“It has been a very interesting challenge. At the beginning we felt like a rabbit in the headlights.
“We have to work together and do what’s right for the area.”
Last month, the “Chronicle” reported that the council had attempted to buy the land with support from the National Heritage Lottery Fund, but there was not enough time to explore the option before it went to auction.
Coun Suzy Firkin had suggested contacting the new owners to offer to buy a portion of the land with the most historical value, while the rest could be sold for potential development.
Coun Firkin said the land might not be eligible to become an asset of community value.
She said: “We haven’t been able to have a quality discussion with Cheshire East Council and while the footpath is very heavily used, there are some question marks around whether it’ll meet the criteria.”
Coun Kay Wesley questioned whether the new owner would be willing to negotiate.
She said: “If the land has been sold for that sum of money and the buyer has the intention of building houses, there is a potentially huge profit (for them).”
• Priesty Fields is a green corridor, rich in folklore, historical pathways and archaeological discoveries. It is named because Astbury was Congleton’s only church and priests and parishioners used the area to walk to Astbury. The two-mile path connected the parish church of St Mary’s in Astbury to Congleton, crossing through the fields and the valley of the Howty Brook.
