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1934
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A determined campaign in the l930s saved
Baffins Pond from building development. The Evening News of
April 20, 1934, reported that a deputation of the Copnor
Ratepayers Association had waited upon the Estates. Houses and
Sites Sub-Committee of the Corporation urging them to take
action in the hope of saving the pond. The council should not
let an opportunity pass to enhance the health and pleasure
value of the district by preserving a beauty spot,” they
said.
But commercial pressure to develop the
land right up to the water’s edge continued, and it was not
until 1938 that the vital decision to save the pond was made,
thanks to campaigning by local people and Councillor
J.A.Griffiths, and the generosity of the owners, growers Morey
and Flowers.
The Mayor also favoured saving the pond
and warned that the only alternative was to pass plans
previously submitted for building all round the site and
enclosing the pond. The owners pointed out that the amount
they would have received for the sale of the building plots
around the side of the pond was not less than £8,500, but
having regard to the fact that the local authority desired to
keep the whole as an open space, they were prepared to sell
the whole site to the Corporation for £5,500, “subject to
the Corporation undertaking to preserve the site as an open
space and not to erect any buildings thereon, except pavilions
or similar buildings used in connection with recreation
grounds.”
Pond sold for £5,500 to Corporation by
Morey & Flowers.
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