the same thing happened in our street, the council wanted to make a piece of vacant land on the opposite side of the street into an allottment, and although we signed a petition ,we objected to it ,there would be extra traffic driving up and down our narrow street, it made no difference, they went ahead with it ,but now it's called a community garden. I used to open the blinds in the morning and look out at a nice open space, now all I see is a huge polly tunnel and a dome...and at the end of the road well the only word that springs to mind is a tip.This is all finished off with a huge metal fence..all that's missing is the barbed wire round the top.