THE (gardening) gloves are off in an ongoing battle between Fylde councillors and campaigners fighting to prevent development in a St Annes park.

Councillors met in the sunshine at Ashton Gardens on Friday to condemn 'some members' of Supporters of Ashton Gardens (SOAG) - the community group with which they were working on a lottery bid for the park, but have now parted ways.

The split came after a disagreement over how to find out what residents think of a planned sell-off of a corner of the park.

The council accused a 'minority few' in SOAG of developing, and arranging the distribution of,

'skewed' residents' referendum questionnaires before a council task committee could jointly agree the wording of any such leaflets. SOAG's leaflets are being delivered in St Annes this week. Fylde Borough Council insists it must sell the former Ashton Institute, plus an area known as the 'red cabin yard', to raise £500,000 to secure Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) 'matched funding' of £1.5 million.

Campaigners want the council to ditch any sell-off plans. But the council does not want all Fylde taxpayers to foot the bill for a 'St Annes only' issue.

Cllr Colin Walton, who resigned from SOAG over the disagreement, said: "We have tried to work hard with SOAG.

"There is a minority of SOAG who are determined that not a square inch of Ashton Gardens shall be sold off. We are saying that in this day and age you have got to be more pragmatic and in order to get £2 million for the park, this section is required to fund the bid."

Although the council says it will not be bound by SOAG's referendum, Cllr Walton said a public meeting would have to be called if the results showed the public's support for the campaigners.

Cllr Linda Nulty - who joined Cllrs Walton, Roger Small, and Sue Fazackerley on Friday's park visit, added: "They SOAG don't believe that we won't at some point sell the gardens off, but having got the Heritage Lottery bid, that ensures that the gardens are kept for the future."

But SOAG says St Annes residents should be allowed to make up their own minds on the plan. They claim the council is going against the advice of the heritage experts it brought in to prepare the lottery bid.

They also claim that the council faces legal difficulties if it sells the land, which was originally gifted to the town by its benefactor, Lord Ashton.

"This is an important issue for us, because Lord Ashton's gift was charitable." said a SOAG spokesman: "One of the most eminent charity counsel at the London Bar says a court may conclude that the Gardens are held by Fylde Borough Council on charitable trusts

"This makes it difficult (if not impossible) for the council to sell any part of the park without first seeking a declaration from the court as to the legal status of the council's ownership".

Voting forms are being distributed with St Annes issues of this week's Citizen. SOAG is willing to speak with anyone who wants more information, and they can ring St Annes 728047 or 721608 to speak with a SOAG representative.

The group will also be in the Square on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 to man a collection box for votes the last two days, and will be happy to answer questions.