A DISPUTED piece of land between Nelson and Colne is worth £20m, Pendle Council bosses have revealed.

Executive director for services John Kirk announced Gib Hill's value in a bid to stop Nelson councillors from planting trees on the land, which has been earmarked for housing development. The figure equates to £222 for every person in the borough.

Marsden councillor Gary Rowland suggested putting oak trees on the site to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and to support a project to increase woodland in the borough.

Coun Rowland said: "We all know it's the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and they are trying to plant so much woodland to replace the trees which made the ships, I think there were 33 altogether.

"We have this money for tree planting available. We tried at Hard Platts but it wasn't successful. I think Gib Hill would be the ideal situation to put these trees. We've got a nice piece of land, we've been arguing what to do with it and I can't see why we can't just go ahead and do it."

Pendle Council bought the land more than 30 years ago for a housing estate which was never built. Residents have campaigned to have it turned into a nature reserve and a Government planning inspector is currently deciding whether Gib Hill should be safeguarded for housing.

The Forestry Commission and East Lancashire Woodlands Initiative offer grants to tree planting schemes.

Mr Kirk said: "A figure of £20m could be at stake. You can cover it with trees or turn it into a nature reserve but you should protect one's assets. This will make it a liability rather than an asset. It is a large price to pay for closing off your options.

"There are 90,000 people in the borough - are you prepared to give a sum like that away? Quite a lot of people might say no.

"It would be sensible to wait for the outcome of the Local Plan. We have Marsden Park which would be grateful to accept a number of commemorative oak trees."

Councillors were split between planting woodland on Gib Hill, Marsden Park and Hard Platts and agreed to look at putting trees on all three sites.