CAMPAIGNERS are urging people to help fight a Bournemouth council plan to develop 49 new council houses on a playing field.

They are also urging people to attend a consultation meeting today which they said has been poorly advertised by the council.

Bournemouth council wants to develop Duck Lane Playing Field, which it says is now largely unused except for “dog walking and informal play”.

However the Duck Lane Preservation Group said the land is at the centre of the local community and the group has gathered more than 1,000 signatures in opposition.

Annie Hunter, 54, a member of the group, said: “The council only posted the consultation to select roads a few days before the meeting and not to places like Anchor Close and across Ringwood Road.

“These fields are used by children and footballers not just dog walkers – these fields are the heart of the community and to destroy them is wanton vandalism.”

Fiona Henry, 45, chairman of the group, said the council’s removal of trees and hedges had already damaged the eco-system.

She said: “It destroyed the fox holes and now people in Holloway Avenue are complaining about rats.”

The council said the fields were converted into a play area and football pitches in the 1960s but the site had fallen out of formal use.

Officers considered selling the land to a private developer but opted for one of three council housing schemes to ease the pressure on the waiting list.

The preferred option is for up to 49 two, three and four-bedroom houses near the Duck Lane end, a community centre, and an open space that could include two five-a-side pitches at the Holloway Avenue end.

The site would have a 20mph limit Home Zone, with cycle routes to get safely to schools and priority for pedestrians.

The meeting is from 3.30pm to 6.30pm at the Cornerstone Church on the corner of Holloway Avenue and Anstey Road. No planning application has yet been submitted.