The Friends of Ashby Bath Grounds have warmly welcomed last Monday's decision by the Town Council to press ahead with purchasing the freehold of the Bath Grounds.

In a statement on their website the group say: "Community ownership of the Bath Grounds was one of the Friends' four prime objectives when we were established back in 2014.

"It's fantastic to see that we are reaching the end of the long journey towards achieving this, without compromising any of our other objectives, including the prevention of building on any part of the Bath Grounds.

"In 2014, the Town Council had agreed in principle to back the owners of the Royal Hotel building five luxury houses on the Bath Grounds in exchange for handing over what would have been left of the Grounds.

"We were not willing to accept that deal, and our campaign to stop it, with a 3,000-signature petition and over 100 letters of objection, resulted in withdrawal of the associated planning application.

"In 2018, Oakland Hotels resurrected its plan to build houses on the Bath Grounds in exchange for donating the rest to the Council.

"This time we raised a 7,000 strong petition and Oakland eventually decided against submitting the planning application.

"Whilst we feel that the asking price of £620,000 is high, we much prefer that the Bath Grounds are secured for the public through a straight purchase rather than through any deal involving the loss of a large swathe of the Grounds to building."

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However, the Friends of the Bath Grounds say they will not be resting on their laurels.

At the Town Council meeting on Monday, councillors from across the political spectrum requested that the Town Clerk explores means of ensuring that the Bath Grounds now remain in community ownership in perpetuity, so a successor council could not decide to sell them off.

"We support this move and are considering changing our community ownership aim to reflect this," say the Friends.

The Friends will also continue their work representing their members and users of the Bath Grounds on the Town Council's new Bath Grounds Advisory Group advocating improved standards of maintenance and working with the Town Council and users to achieve further investment in the public facilities on the Grounds, particularly accessibility.

Details of how to join the Friends can be found on their website.