Councillors have agreed to set up a public inquiry to look at whether land on a Stoke-on-Trent housing estate should be made a village green.

Residents in Meir Park have been calling for the privately-owned area of open space off Canberra Crescent to be protected from development since trees on the site were chopped down in 2024.

Ward councillor Abi Brown submitted an application to have the land formally designated a town or village green, and 49 residents filled in questionnaires to support the bid.

Half of these residents claim to have been using the land for 'lawful sports or pastimes', as of right, for at least 20 years – the required length of time for a site to qualify as a village green.

But landowners Nadeem Mohammed and Naseer Ahmed Fazal are objecting to the application, claiming that it fails to meet the 'evidential or procedural threshold'.

They also suggest a 'trigger event' may have occurred which would invalidate any application.

Members of the registration of town and village greens panel Stoke-on-Trent City Council have now agreed to appoint an independent inspector to carry out a public inquiry into the matter.

The two-day inquiry, set to be organised for later in the year, is expected to cost the council around £14,000.

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Council officer Chris Parry told the panel that the recommendation to carry out an inquiry had not been made lightly, and steps had been taken to resolve the issue more speedily.

But an inspector commissioned to prepare a preliminary report had concluded that there had been no 'knock out' blows the settle the matter, meaning further examination of the evidence will be needed.

Both sides will be able to present evidence to the public inquiry. The inspector will then make a recommendation to the panel.