A SUBSTANTIAL cash injection is needed to complete the Burley-in-Wharfedale village green extension.

Burley Community Council's funds are running low and the man behind the scheme needs at least £5,000 to finish the project.

Tom Sumner has been responsible for creating the village green, opened by the then Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Gordon Mitchell, in October1996.

In July last year, Mr Sumner revealed ambitious plans to extend the village green.

His dream was to virtually double the size of the existing project but he only has about £1,500 of community council funds left in the kitty.

Mr Sumner has been busy since July, creating new paths, thinning out trees, creating new flower and shrub beds and placing a footbridge over the stream next to Hopps Barn.

However, attempts to obtain cash grants for the green extension have all failed, leaving the community council some way short of the money required.

Mr Sumner said: "If we don't have any more funds by the spring then I will have to cut back on aspects of the project, which I don't really want to do."

The remaining £1,500 should just about cover the costs of fencing and flagging the top of the bridge, but there will be nothing left for top soil, shrubs and reseeding work.

"I am very disappointed we have not been able to get millennium funding. The criteria seem very strict. This is a community project which will benefit the people of Burley-in-Wharfedale after all," he said.

The secretary of Burley Community Council, Mike Harris, is equally concerned about the looming cash crisis.

"It certainly isn't the case that we have no funds left but we are seriously going to have to look at the fundraising issue as far as the village green extension is concerned," said Mr Harris, after the council's monthly meeting.

Mr Sumner has been delighted with the response from villagers offering to tend flowerbeds and devote their Saturday mornings to helping him with the project. Volunteers have ranged in age from seven to 87, all determined to make a contribution.

However, without the necessary funds, Mr Sumner is pessimistic about the chances of completing the project as he would like.

Mr Sumner has achieved so much with the village green, a scheme which so many residents believe typifies the village, that he is determined not to be beaten by the present cash problem.

At the start of the project Mr Sumner said: "I'm not trying to create an empire here. I just want to make sure the village continues to have a green lung, not just for villagers today but for those in the future.

"I cannot use every penny in the community council account as some has to be kept for emergenices, of course," he added.

While they examine ways of raising extra funds (as well as hoping for some generous donations) community councillors have prioritised the extension scheme for project funding.

Anyone wanting to boost the community council coffers can contact Mr Sumner on 01943 862940.

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