A GROUP of Weaverham residents have criticised members of the parish council amid claims they were 'kept in the dark' about their village's future.

Around 120 people attended Weaverham Parish Council's annual assembly on Monday night following rumours over ICI's sell-off of land in the village to NPL Estates.

Speculation mounted on Friday after a leaflet-drop around the village by an unknown source, claimed that 600 houses, 10 shops and a factory were to be built on the land, as well as plans to develop Lakehouse Field.

The rumours were firmly refuted by the parish council and Richard Ellison, head of planning at Vale Royal Borough Council, who set the record straight by informing residents that any planning application submitted by NPL would be refused due to greenbelt conditions imposed by the Government.

But some residents feel they have been badly let down by the lack of information from the parish council, despite articles in the parish newsletter and a public exhibition last year which asked for their views on a Local Agenda 21 document for the future of the village.

Speaking at the meeting, Tony Daffern, a member of the Weaverham History Society, said: "I want to thank Mr Ellison for his very lucid discussion but why could the parish council not have told us about this themselves before now.

"Rightly or wrongly I get the impression that the parish council have not been honest and I would like some assurance that in future we will get better feedback."

Another resident, Richard Gorrill, of Sandy Lane, said: "Communication is a two-way thing. Part of that is communicating it and the other half is listening, and until tonight the parish council has not done it in a way that the people of Weaverham have understood."

Councillors, who are also against any development on Lakehouse Field, dismissed claims that they had deliberately kept information from residents and said there had been no real plans to inform the public about in any case.

Parish chairman and borough councillor, Brian Jamieson, added: "We listen to the public, we communicate with them, and we knock on people's doors to talk to them if we need to."

A full report of Weaverham's annual assembly will appear in next week's Guardian.