A pensioner has vowed to take on Dundee City Council over its plans to turn the site of the old Kingspark school into private housing.
Peggy George, 75, served on Kirkton and Downfield Community Council for three years and sat in meetings when the fate of the land was being decided.
She insists the council guaranteed the greenbelt surrounding the site of the demolished school would be left to the local community and accused the authority of reneging on their promise.
Mrs George is now demanding to know why the council’s latest planning brief for the area suggests just a quarter of the land will be for public use.
She said: “I was on the community council for three years and sat in meetings where we were promised that we would get this land back once the school was gone.
“Now they want to build houses. We object to this because the ground belongs to the area.
“This was a promise to the community and now the council are going back on their word.”
Mrs George has watched with sadness as council workers put up fences or cages as she calls them around the perimeter of the park.
The decision to install a fence, she feels, has made it practically impossible for children to gain access to the park to play.
She said:” I don’t understand why they have put them up. They’ve installed 10ft cages around the park and now children can’t get in to play football or to play with their friends.
“It’s a total eyesore. The park is for children and adults, not wild animals. What they have done has left the park looking like a zoo.”
Despite the criticism, Dundee City Council has vowed to continue with proposals to build houses on 75% of the land.
A council spokesman said: “As part of the consultation process on the draft site planning brief earlier this year, an invitation to comment was posted to 86 residents who share a boundary with the site.
“Taking into account the existing provision of open space in the wider area and the local community needs, it is considered that a larger site is not justified.”