COUNCILLORS have asked residents to continue supporting the campaign to save a sports ground from redevelopment.

Peter King and Eileen Glover urged residents at a Greenwich planning board meeting to back the council in its latest fight with developer Novalong over the Gaelic Athletic football ground in Avery Hill Road, New Eltham.

The building company had hoped to build 261 homes, in three and four-storey blocks, on the 12.8 acre derelict site owned by the Gaelic Athletic Association, together with a medical centre and a community hall.

But the application never went before the council in light of a decision made in March when it reviewed its Unitary Development Plan (UDP).

The council agreed to keep the site as community open space and rejected a planning inspector's recommendation that the site be re-zoned for mixed use along the lines of the company's plans.

In June, the company appealed against the council's failure to decide on its planning application, which will now be subject to a public inquiry on January 23.

On September 28, at Woolwich Town Hall, Wellington Street, members unanimously agreed the grounds on which they would contest Novalong's appeal at the inquiry.

A report stated the proposal would be "out of scale" with the area, contrary to the updated UDP, and "would prejudice current and future needs for playing fields".

Cllr Glover, who represents Eltham South, said: "We need additional sports facilities.

"Only by joining the council can we defeat this developer."