Hundreds of residents of south Swindon have signed a petition to protect a patch of green land near Coate Water.

And despite it being one of three such areas which the council is looking at leasing to the local parish council for safekeeping, the residents want to keep the pressure up.

The triangular patch of green lined with trees between Queen’s Drive and Marlborough Road at the Coate roundabout is still earmarked as being suitable for development for housing.

Andy Brice, who handed in the petition said: “Although the council has been told to look at leasing this land to the parish council, they might come back and say they’ll do the other two but not this.

“They’re still talking about it being suitable for development with 31 bungalows being a possibility.”

Mr Brice said 649 people had signed and paid tribute to Pauline Sharland who had spent hours in the cold collecting most of them.

He added: “We have huge developments around here – Badbury Park, Wichelstowe, and they seem intent on filling in all the smaller green spaces as well.

“But that’s why people move here, because they like the open spaces

Chris Watts is chairman of South Swindon Parish Council: “Parcels of land such as this, identified in the 2015 local plan as green space and wildlife corridors, should be protected and removed from any borough council list that would see them developed or sold to property developers. The parish council has plans over the next four years to formalise a 5 mile nature corridor from Shaftesbury Lake to the canal at Kingshill Road and this land is part of this schedule.”

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “

Although the site appears in the strategic housing and economic land availability assessment, it does not mean that it will be used for development

“Should a planning application be submitted or allocated in the Local Plan, then it will be subject to public consultation.”