Letter from the past could impact on Heath Hayes developments

Jul 2 2009 by Matt Lloyd

Future housing development plans in Heath Hayes could be shattered by a letter buried in a time capsule in the 1920s.

The document, written by the then chairman of Cannock Urban District Council, says village park land, touted as a possible development site, was a gift to the people from the Marquis of Anglesey.

And now, Ray Smythe, Clerk to the parish council, says he may use the unearthed letter, to challenge possible building under Cannock Council’s Local Development Framework.

The letter, written by Mr M Wright J.P. was buried in the pillars of the war memorial gates on May 28 1927.

It charts the history of Heath Hayes from the late 19th Century including the origin of the village’s name, mining past and the history of the village park.

The letter says: “In 1912 the Right Honourable Marquis of Anglesey made a handsome benefaction to the village of the 26 acre recreation ground, which has for many years been the rallying point for miners’ demonstrations for the Cannock Chase Coalfield area.

“This ground has proved to be a most valuable asset to the inhabitants of the village.”

A copy of the letter was handed to Ray by local historian Reg Fullelove.

Ray said: “The time capsule was unearthed a while back but when it was opened water had gotten in and everything had fallen to pieces.

“This letter survived and Reg Fullelove gave us a copy. My son Chris is on work experience so I gave him the letter to transcribe and he typed it up.

“In the local development plan, it appears part of the proposal could be to build on parts of Heath Hayes park.

“The parish council have been querying this because we thought the park was a gift to the people.

“The council say they bought the park in 1931 with no encumbrances but the man who wrote this was the chair of the council.

“What we’re doing now is waiting for a search to come back to see if the park was given as a gift. If it was it shouldn’t be considered for building.”