In 1997 it became known that GMPTE were open to offers for the sale of a disused bus turn- around that they had created in the centre of the village in the late 1970’s.
The land was adjacent to a large private dwelling that was interested in purchasing the bus turn-around and redeveloping it as tennis courts. Around this time The Countryside Commission had just started their project to form 250 Millennium Greens across the country by the turn of the Millennium. A group of residents held a meeting in the village church to gauge the interest of the community and a steering group was formed in order to pursue the funding that was available to create a public area in the village centre. The driving force behind this was Peter Morris and Tony Rogers, and we are grateful to both Peter and Tony for their energy, drive and persistence in getting the Green completed.
Unfortunately, Peter Morris never enjoyed the benefit of his labours for too long as he moved away from the village shortly after its completion, and Tony did the same recently, although remains in the district.
A design was drafted in conjunction with the village school and the Green today still has many features that the school children wished to see, such as a pond and outside classroom area; unfortunately, the school children did not get to use the Green too often as shortly after the Greens’ completion the Labour-controlled council decided to close the school after 130 years of educating local children. The whole process of design and construction took over three years from inception to completion – such is the machinery of Government Quangos. One of the qualifying criteria was that a charitable trust was formed by residents to manage the upkeep and running of the Green. The charitable trust is still running with the trust members being active in their fundraising so that residents and visitors alike can continue to enjoy the Green today.
Affetside Village 