THE Salvation Army might sell green belt land in Leigh to campaigners who want to protect it from development.

The church will consider selling seven acres of meadowland between Leigh and Hadleigh Castle to the Save Our Greenbelt group, which successfully fought plans for a new Havens Hospice on the site.

The campaigners feared the hospice would have set a precedent, unlocking vast swathes of the Salvation Army’s land, between Leigh and Benfleet, for redevelopment – possibly as housing.

Chairman Mike King, of Marine Parade, Leigh, said: “Having moved away any possibility of any imminent development of this green belt, we would like to make sure it is never built on.

“If we were able to purchase it, we would keep it forever as green belt. “The fear has been for many years that the Salvation Army wants to build over all the land between Leigh and Benfleet and they have made proposals to do that in the past.

“One of the dangers of the Havens Hospice proposals was that it would unlock all the green belt land.”

The campaigners want the land, off Belton Way West, Leigh, for the same price the Salvation Army offered it to Havens Hospices.

Hospice bosses dropped the controversial green belt scheme after housebuilder Bellway Homes agreed the charity could include a new facility in its plans to redevelop the former Ekco factory site in Southend.

The Salvation Army and Havens have refused to disclose how much the church wanted for the land.

However, campaigners claim Havens was offered it at a “peppercorn” rate, hoping planning permission for the hospice would set a precedent, allowing it to sell off other land for a bumper price.

A spokesman for the church said: “We agreed to sell land to Havens Hospices to allow them to create a new adult hospice to care for seriously ill patients and their families.

“We had not sought to sell this land prior to this request.

“When objections were made and planning permission refused, the sale did not proceed.

“As such, we will not be selling this land at this time. But, as with previous requests, we would consider proposals received. The request from Havens Hospice was considered as a unique humanitarian request for a particular piece of land for a hospice that would serve people in need.

“The Salvation Army wasn’t actively seeking to sell its land.

“The Salvation Army is not looking to sell the land for development.”