Council chiefs say they will carry out an assessment before deciding whether to sell off a popular piece of green space.

The land off Clermont Avenue in Hanford was declared surplus by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in March, which could potentially result in it being sold off for housing.

More than 480 people signed a petition calling for the council to reverse this decision, with residents saying the 1.45 acre site is well used for dog walking and exercise.

In response to the petition, senior officers confirmed that the authority is not currently taking 'active steps' to dispose of the land, and that a greenspace assessment will be carried out before any final decision is taken.

Ward councillor Dan Jellyman, who started the petition, told members of the housing, regeneration and operations scrutiny committee that the land is officially classed as public open space in the council's own documents.

He said: "The petition has received over 450 signatures. The space is well-used by local residents. Many people who live in that area are elderly who use the space for exercise. The council has placed benches there, and planted trees on the land.

"If it was to be sold off and developed it would be to the detriment of the local community."

"When the Clermont Avenue estate was built in the 1960s and 70s the reason why this parcel of land wasn't included was because it provided much-needed public space."

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Cabinet members agreed to declare 27 sites as 'surplus to the council's requirements' in March, paving the way for them to be sold off or re-purposed. But Cllr Jellyman believes that a proper assessment will reveal that the Clermont Avenue land should not be considered surplus at all.

He added: "My understanding is that there was no greenspace assessment conducted for this site before the decision to declare it surplus was taken. It's normal practice for the council, when it considers public open space, to conduct a survey of all of the other public open spaces in the locality to determine whether it is surplus."

Carol Gibbs, executive director of housing, development and growth, told the committee that an assessment would be carried out for the land at Clermont Avenue. She also said that she would be happy for the results of the assessment to be made public, in order to ensure 'complete transparency'.

Tony McGovern, director of investment, delivery and growth at the council, explained that the law requires the council to advertise any proposal to sell off public open space, and consider any objections.

He added: "A lot of sites were declared surplus in March. I just wanted to confirm that officers are not taking active steps to dispose of Clermont Avenue at the moment. We have six other sites on that list which are going through due diligence and site investigations."

Committee members voted to note the petition and the response from officers. Acting committee chair Lauren Davison suggested that the Hanford residents could seek village green status for the land in order to protect it from development.