A FIVE-year plan to conserve and enhance Merritts Meadow in Petersfield has been looked over by town councillors.

Petersfield Town Council, which received the draft plan at its grounds committee meeting last week, is one of the authorities which will be involved in the management of the beauty spot if it goes ahead.

The others are the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA), East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) and Beechcroft Residents’ Association.

They would work together to protect the biodiversity and access of the 1.8 hectare site, at present owned by developers, to the north of Station Road, bordered by Petersfield Cemetery and the railway line, with Tilmore Brook running through.

The partnership would also deliver practical action on the ground, liaise with residents to encourage use of the area, raise the profile and understanding of the meadow and its ecosystems and develop a maintenance programme so that it could be enjoyed by future generations.

There would be a works programme agreed by all partners for each year of the five, and volunteers would be encouraged to help, too.

In the first year it is proposed that scrub and overhanging branches are removed and a new gate and entry sign erected to make the meadow more welcoming.

There would be grass and verge cutting, litter picking, a new fence put up and paths realigned.

Signs would be standardised, linkage improved between other open spaces in the town, and views and vistas created by cutting through clearance of brambles and scrub.

People living at Merritts Meadow would be kept updated of any work affecting them.