A pensioner who has battled for 11 years to get Cornwall Council to consider a bid for a new village green to be recognised says he may not live to see the outcome.

Colin Brown agreed in 2008 to lead a bid by residents of the village of Forder, near Saltash, to get a piece of land formally recognised as a village green to protect it.

But 11 years later there has still been no decision about the application and the council has now been ordered by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) to apologise to Mr Brown and pay him £600 compensation.

The 80-year-old said he never imagined that he would still be fighting the battle 11 years later.

“I was 68 when I started this and now I am 80,” he said.

“Not only have people moved away since we launched the bid, but some have died.

“That includes the ex-mayor of Saltash who was born in Forder and had 70 years’ use of the area.

“A lot of people have been saying to me over the years ‘what is happening?’ and I just have to say ‘I don’t know’ it’s embarrassing.”

Mr Brown said he had no problems with the people at Cornwall Council who have dealt with the application who he said had been “pleasant”.

He added: “It is not as if a year has gone by, we have kept on continuously trying to get the council to consider the application. I have so many sheets of documentation and emails from over the years.

“Obfuscating is the word I would use.”

But as he gets older Mr Brown fears he may not get to see whether his bid to have the land recognised as a village green happen.

“If it goes on much longer I might not be here anymore – maybe that is what they are waiting for,” he said.

“It has got to the stage where it is just annoying.”

Mr Brown explained that the piece of land in question runs alongside Forder Creek which runs into the River Lynher.

He said that it was originally on a tidal road and had been used by residents in Forder for many years.

The land includes an area of woodland and runs down to a “beach” area next to the waterside which he said was used by many people including scouts and church groups for barbecues and other activities.

Mr Brown said that he and other residents wanted to ensure that it would be protected and safe from any kind of development.

He explained that the process of getting support for a village green was complicated – “it’s not just signing a petition or ticking a box, people have to complete an eight-page form explaining why they support the application”.

And he said he was just keen for the council to make a decision on the application: “If they refuse it for good reasons then we would accept that.”

Cornwall Council has apologised and paid the £600 compensation to Mr Brown and said that a public inquiry will be held in the autumn. The pensioner said: “They have said that before.”

He added: “They have given me £600 which is very nice of them. But they are short of money and shouldn’t be wasting it on this.”

Mr Brown said that the cost of hiring Queen’s Counsel for legal opinion would have been more taxpayers’ money spent on the issue.

The pensioner said he was glad that the LGO had found fault with the council but added that this does not resolve the issue.

He said: “All they are saying is what the local authority should do and that they simply haven’t done that.”