A ROW over the fate of a cherished piece of green land has boiled over once again.

Cllr Ted Strike fervently campaigned to stop five shops being erected on land near the Myton House Farm pub, in Ingleby Barwick, last year in a bid to preserve it for future events.

Despite almost 2,000 signatures against the move, Stockton Council planning committee gave the units near Tesco the green light in October.

But Cllr Strike has continued his fight and he questioned council leaders about the fate of land off Barwick Way at Stockton Town Hall.

The chamber was told the authority had not bought the green space from Tesco.

However, Cllr Strike wanted to know if the authority had any other plans for the stretch.

He asked: “Will this mean Ingleby Barwick will get no improvements out of the £30m regeneration budget? Or will Stockton Council ring-fence some money and look at alternatives?

“Why have Stockton Council used the field so visibly in their consultation document if they cannot guarantee that Tesco will allow them to use it?”

Stockton Council agreed to borrow £30m to buy up key town centre sites around the borough in 2018.

Views are still being sought on what is to be done to regenerate Thornaby, Billingham, Norton, Yarm and Ingleby Barwick.

Cllr Nigel Cooke, cabinet member for regeneration and housing, said the council was “committed to working with Tesco” and others in Ingleby.

He added: “The public consultation is still ongoing and we must wait to see what the key themes from that are before we decide what appropriate solutions are in each of our towns.

“The illustrations of all town centre documents provide a vision of what may be possible to aid the public in that consultation process.

“We await the consultation to see where we are.”

Family fun days and Easter egg hunts have been part of a roster of events run on the land near the Myton pub by the Ingleby Barwick Community Partnership.

It’s Tesco’s land

Not everyone sees eye-to-eye with Cllr Strike’s campaign to save the land from shops and other developments.

After the meeting, Cllr Ross Patterson said past masterplans for Ingleby had earmarked land from the Myton down to the St Therese of Lisieux Roman Catholic Church, on Blair Avenue, as “town centre land”.

The Ingleby Barwick Independent Society (IBIS) member added: “It does not say ‘field for a mini-Glastonbury’ which some of my residents are horrified by.”

The west ward councillor also doubted why Stockton Council would want to buy the land from Tesco.

Cllr Patterson said: “You cannot make Tesco do anything – it’s their land.

“I moved here 35 years ago and I am still waiting for a proper town centre for a new town.

“People are telling us they want a building society, a children’s play barn, a home store or a garden centre.”