A PIECE of waste ground at Chard Business Park looks set to be given a new lease of life.

South Somerset District Council’s Area West committee meets tonight (Wednesday) to discuss an application from Abbey Manor Developments to use land north of Dolling Close as public open space.

The area in question is known as Plot Five of the business park at Thorndun Park Drive, which was created in the 1980s, and a council report indicates that it has been used as a ‘green buffer’ between the employment units and people living in England’s Way, Dolling Close and Reed Close.

The plot covers around 1.8 acres, but a large proportion of the land, which is jointly owned by the council and the Blackburn Trust, is unsuitable for development.

Despite extensive marketing over the past 15 years, the plot remains unused with potential buyers put off by constraints on the site due to a number of mature and protected trees there.

Planning officer Andrew Gunn said: “The site constraints leave only a small part of the site as an area which could be developed for employment uses.

“This application recognises the extremely limited potential and likelihood of Plot Five now coming forward for employment use.

“This proposal looks to change the use of Plot Five from employment use to amenity use for ‘play and open space’, and this would accommodate the local need for play provision in a suitable location and environment.”

Cllr Jenny Kenton, who represents Chard on the district council, told the News she had been “pushing” for this development for years and an amenity area for local people was badly needed.