CAMPAIGNERS hoping to change plans for housing to be built on an old golf course presented a petition with thousands of signatures to the mayor of Swindon.

More than 4,540 people in Highworth and further afield have supported a push to keep all of the land near Roman Way and Swindon Road as a public green space where wildlife can thrive and people can enjoy nature.

Members of the Action Group for Saving Highworth’s Old Golf Course are concerned by Swindon Borough Council’s plan to open up as much as 30 per cent of the green space to development of 350 properties.

This idea is put forward in a revised version of the Local Plan which outlines the borough's proposals for Swindon and the surrounding area up to 2036.

Swindon Mayor Garry Perkins met with members of the action group at the local authority's offices earlier this month and accepted what the group claims is the most signatures ever received on one petition sent to the council.

They explained the strength of feeling behind the opposition to the draft local plan's idea and he replied that protecting such key publicly-owned, publicly-accessible green space from being built upon is vital even as more housing is built across the borough.

Action group member April Thrush presented the petition to Coun Perkins, who also accepted hard copies of consultation representation responses to the SBC Local Development Plan and one of the group’s 'Keep Our Old Golf Course Green' posters for his mayoral office

She said: “We were delighted that the mayor gave us so much of his time and that he clearly feels passionate about protecting the Swindon borough’s key public green spaces.

"The fact that he was so happy to talk with us, accept our petition and responses, and be photographed doing so tells us a lot and has encouraged us to double our efforts as we enter the next phase of our campaign to keep Highworth’s Old Golf Course green.”

The group sent an application to Highworth Town Council which would designate the former golf course and Roman farm as a green space.

After councillors read through and discussed the document, they unanimously agreed to support the application.

The updated Local Plan is not yet set in stone - the borough's authority will take feedback from the public into consideration when making the final drafts.