The battle has been won... but the war may not be over just yet.

After celebrating the success of the Echo's Save Dry Street campaign to stop English Partnerships building 1,300 homes on the Basildon wildlife haven, protesters are now looking for ways to safeguard the area's future.

Rod Cole, environmentalist and author, believes the 95-acre tract of ancient meadows, including Longwood equestrian centre, could best be safeguarded by being treated as an official nature reserve.

He said: "My vision would be for the stables there to be invested in as a regional centre, addressing competitive and local needs.

"The fields around the site could be used as traditional hay meadows for horse-grazing and cutting, which would help manage them and conserve their wildlife.

"I would like to see input from Essex Wildlife Trust, in terms of management, because of important ancient hedgerows and the protected species of which we are aware.

"Dry Street is on the trust's scheduled list of wildlife sites, so this could be a real possibility."

He added: "Paths, linking to bridleways and the whole Langdon Hills network could be established to allow access for patients, visitors and the public.

"The key will obviously rest with English Partnerships, which remains the owner, and its willingness to negotiate over the issue."

Basildon Council leader Malcolm Buckley would like to see Dry Street transformed into a country park.

He said: "Our local development framework, over the next three years, will seek to return Dry Street to green belt, but this is another possibility which will be explored.

"Of course any council proposals will still be subject to challenge by English Partnerships."

Billericay MP John Baron urged campaigners to remain vigilant about future threats.

He said: "It just goes to show what can be done when a community comes together. But there will always be pressure to build on our green belt and we must remain vigilant and do all we can to ensure Dry Street's long-term future."

Terry's mum's dying wish - to stop plans Former world boxing champion Terry Marsh has revealed how his mother signed the Echo's Dry Street petition on her deathbed.

Marsh, 48, from Lee Chapel South, singed the petition and attended public meetings over the issue.

He said his mum, Maisie, 79, had been totally against plans to build 1,300 homes.

She signed the petition, she knew she had less than a week to live - but was still concerned about the proposals and wanted it stopped.

The former firefighter, who won the IBF light welterweight title in 1987, said: "She was still thinking about the future of where she lived and of other people when there was obviously a lot more on her mind.

"Although she was very frail, she made the effort to get out of bed and sign the petition, because she thought it could make a difference.

"She would have been delighted by the news and this is a real tribute to her.

"I understand the weight of the petition swung the decision and if it was her name which was one of the straws that broke the camel's back, then it is even better news."

Mrs Marsh lived in Basildon for 36 years - 35 of them at the home in Great Gregorie. in Lee Chapel South, where she died of liver cancer, on September 23.

The former boxer and firefighter - a one-time Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate - added that had been against the idea of developing Dry Street since he first heard about it, in 1996.

The battle took Echo readers just a few weeks

More than 10,000 Echo readers backed our fight to convince Government planners their giant housing estate was not welcome in Basildon.

The current count on our petition reveals at least 10,160 signatures from across south Essex and as far away as Australia and Tobago, in the Carribbean.

An army of protesters co-ordinated by the Dry Street Green Action Group worked night and day to collect signatures at festivals, in shops and country parks - with coupons still coming in.

Initially, we only had Tory and Lib Dem support. But after around 4,000 people signed up to the petition, Basildon Labour MP Angela Smith and husband Nigel Smith, leader of the Labour group on Basildon Council, came off the fence to back us, too.

The backing of junior Government minister Mrs Smith and calls for a public inquiry from Billericay MP John Baron were a major boost for our campaign.

Still, it was the sheer weight of numbers which won the day for us and the residents, after just 13 weeks of campaigning.

However, we must not forget Dry Street has been earmarked as a possible development site since the New Town was developed in 1965.

Early Basildon strategic plans discovered by Nethermayne Lib Dem councillor Ben Williams have made that clear.

But it wasn't until the mid 1990s that it again became a serious proposition.

The Commission for New Towns - the forerunner to English Partnerships - successfully argued the 95-acre site should be removed from green belt and designated a long-term housing site.

The plan lay dormant until 2004 when the now Tory-run Basildon Council tried to get it changed back to green belt in the district's local plan.

A challenge from Whitehall was half expected, but an early appearance of proposals from English Partnerships came as a surprise.

Still, officials were equally quick to shelve them again when a petition signed by 4,000 local people expressed opposition to the plan.

So, having seen off the proposals once, it was a genuine shock when they resurfaced last June when the council's green belt hopes crumbled amid a row between the council and the Government over the new district plan.

When the agency announced a planning application was imminent, the Echo's Save Dry Street campaign was born.

The rest, we can now say, is history. And so, we all sincerely hope, are English Partnerships's designs on Dry Street.