A two-year campaign to have 15 hectares of open space declared a village green finally has an end date in sight.

The MERLin group (The Medway Ecological Riverine Link) launched its bid to have the land at Bunyards Farm in Aylesford, between Beaver Road and the railway line, given official village green status back in July 2021.

It took six months just to have the application officially registered.

The group then had to submit evidence that the public had been able to access the land “as of right and without permission” for at least 20 years.

This involved collecting affidavits from members of the public who had used the land to walk their dogs, go blackberrying or similar activities.

Then came a protracted exchange of legal arguments with those opposed to village green status, who included housing developer Barrett David Wilson who revealed it hoped to erect 435 homes on the field off Beaver Road.

But finally, MERLin has been given a date – Friday, September 15 – for Kent County Council’s (KCC) regulation committee to determine the application. The meeting starts at 10am and will take place in County Hall, Maidstone.

The meeting is open to the public and campaigners are hoping for a strong turnout from supporters to help convince KCC of the strength of local feeling.

Since the campaign started, Chris Passmore – one of the three principal activists along with Duncan Edwards and James Willis – has been elected as the KCC councillor for Maidstone Central in a by-election last month.

The poacher-turned-gamekeeper said: “If we are successful, 15 hectares of immensely important land in the heart of a rash of development along the A20 will be registered as a village green, allowing local residents to continue to access this land and ensuring that it will remain green forever.

“I will also now be speaking as a county councillor at the meeting to confirm the integrity of the evidence we provided.”

To be declared a village green, the public must have had, and made use of, unfettered access to the land for at least 20 years.

If successful, the Village Green application would prevent the land – which is the last remaining green space between Allington and Aylesford – being built on.