KNOWLE West residents are opposing plans to sell off part of their local recreation ground.

They are the latest group to protest against council plans to sell parkland and green spaces across the city for housing.

And they say the well-used recreation ground behind Broad Walk, Salcombe Road and Queenshill Road is not the council's to sell – it was given to the people of Knowle by the late Lady Smythe.

Knowle was once part of the Ashton Court estate and Lady Smythe is said to have given the recreation ground and The Square to the people around the time homes were first built there in the 1920s.

So far 170 adults and 50 children have signed a petition urging the council not to sell off half their park.

Jeana Mizen, 60, runs a youth group from her home in Salcombe Road which backs onto the recreation ground where youngsters often play football.

She said: "The first I knew about this was Monday last week when one of my neighbours told me about it.

"It's a beautiful field, a well-loved field – it's part of our lives."

Vicky Williams, 34, who lives in Newquay Road, regularly takes her son Flynn, ten months, to the park.

She said: "He's learning to walk and the recreation ground is appropriate for him. Sometimes Redcatch Park is packed and we need somewhere quieter and more enclosed."

Mary Ackroyd, 58, who lives in Queenshill Road, remembers playing in the park as a child.

She said: "This was used as the playground for Knowle Park School and on sports days.

"Everybody knew that it was donated to the people of Knowle by Lady Smythe to be used for recreation in perpetuity."

Skye Reed, 30, mum to Kage, 11, Zine, 10, and Archie, six, said: "I used to play here as a child and now I bring my children here."

Dave Baker, 56, who has lived in Queenshill Road for 27 years, said: "I like to look out and see it as it is. We bought the house because it overlooked the park.

"If they build here it will devalue the existing houses by £15,000 each."

There are rumours that there are plans for 34 new homes up to three storeys high though no such planning applications have been submitted.

Martin Pope, 50, a labourer, of Queenshill Road, said: "I walk my dog here every day. I think it's a lovely place and I don't see why they've got to build on it."

Residents are calling for a public meeting to be held at the local school about the council's proposals for the recreation ground.

Council spokeswoman Helen Hewitt said no decisions had been made and people now had the chance to comment on the Area Green Space Plan.

She said: "A thorough and comprehensive consultation process with local people over a number of years has enabled us to draw up the council's citywide parks and green space strategy and site allocations document.

"The strategy has identified the different types of green space that currently exists and where, for example, new play areas could be created and where parks could be enhanced with improved facilities and what the investment priorities will be for each area.

"The current consultation process, which started in June and runs throughout the summer until October, also looks at those areas of land, which have been deemed to be of low recreational and amenity value and which could be considered as possible future opportunities for land sale and development.

"No decisions have been made."

For more information on the Area Green Space Plan, visit the council's website at www.bristol.gov.uk/agsp or phone 922 3719 and ask to speak to a member of the Area Green Space Plan team.

Other areas of the city that are protesting about their green spaces being earmarked for sale include: Stockwood, St Anne's, Bishopsworth, Shirehampton, Henbury, Horfield, Lockleaze, Lodge Hill and Fishponds.