Over the pandemic, residents living in the homes surrounding Primrose Meadow have found safety and community in its green field and open space.

When restrictions were tighter, it gave local grandparents the opportunity to see and spend precious time with their loved ones from a safe distance.

This is what the community will lose if development on the meadow goes ahead, says Sammie Shurety, who lives on Primrose Walk.

"A lot of people use this field for children's memories - flying a kite or riding a bike for the first time," she says.

"We talk about the community, but it's the whole of Maldon."

Over the years, the green space has been subject to controversial discussions concerning housing development - a threat that has reared its head once more.

Essex County Council confirmed in July that its housing development company - Essex Housing Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) - has earmarked Primrose Meadow, on Mundon Road, for housing.

No related planning applications have been submitted to Maldon District Council yet.

Sammie is now one of hundreds of residents working together to oppose development on the site.

Locals have set up the Stand Against Primrose Meadow Development campaign group, which currently has 565 members on Facebook.

Anna Fay, a campaigner who moved into a home close to the meadow last November, says she wants to fight for the green space that has improved her mental health.

"The reason I moved here was because I liked this field - it has helped my depression as well as my daughter's asthma," she says.

"We can't afford to move again - we've invested our money, time and hearts into these homes.

"Are they going to become worthless?"

Resident Karen Andrews, who grew up in Maldon and has lived on Primrose Walk for 34 years, remembers when the field was one open space before it was divided by bollards in 1994.

"My children, in their 30s now, all learned to cycle there," she says.

"It was like a bowling green, it was so beautiful."

Karen worries about the impact that another development would have on surrounding infrastructure.

The large size of the meadow leaves her worried that any development on it would be "massive".

"If you're putting houses there, you need infrastructure because otherwise everything will collapse," she says.

"Maldon's infrastructure is already under strain, can you imagine what would happen if a development on the meadow went ahead?

"That's what people are worried about, alongside the disruption that would be caused by building new homes - years of noise, dust and god knows what else right in the heart of Maldon, right in the middle of our homes."

Anna adds: "I'm anxious about potential building work.

"I don't want to look outside and see a building site instead of a meadow - how am I going to walk out the door with my child if that's right on my doorstep?"

Aga Drzewicz, another campaigner and resident, says: "We're trying to save the environment.

"How are we meant to do that if this development goes ahead?"

She points to the large variety of wildlife that can be found at the meadow.

"It's booming with wildlife - foxes, bats, butterflies and birds."

The women would like to see the meadow left to the community and to nature - for instance by turning it into a nature reserve or a town green - so that it can be preserved and enjoyed for generations to come.

"It's so loved in Maldon," Anna says. "It's got so much history. It's not just a piece of land."

They say that this view resonates across the local community, who value the meadow as one of the last green spaces left in Maldon.

Promenade Park, they add, is inaccessible and too busy for many residents.

"Lots of people can't afford to take their children to the Prom as it's so commercialised now," Karen says.

"They bring them here instead."

Sammie adds: "Last year when it was snowing, nobody wanted to go to the Prom because it was too busy.

"It was so nice to see the children having fun here - they were coming from all over Maldon."

The women vow to continue their fight to save the meadow.

They are currently sending out online questionnaires to residents to ask for their views about possible development, and say that they have only received objections.

Sammie says: "If we win this, it proves we still have a voice.

"We won't give up."

The Primrose Meadow Residents' Association website can be accessed using the link here.