A BID to buy the historic walled garden in The Leasowes and preserve it for the people of Halesowen has been dealt a blow.

Councillors on the Belle Vale, Hayley Green and Cradley South Community Forum voted to defer a decision as to whether to give a £5,000 grant.

But the cash was being relied on by the Hales Owen Abbey Trust which is planning to buy the 1.85 acre plot.

They now face an anxious wait until the next forum meeting in November to see if they will approve the grant before the purchase can be completed.

Councillors Ken and Hazel Turner, along with Councillor Bob James, called for the deferment after a query from a member of the public about ownership of the garden and whether any money remained from its previous sale which could be used instead of public funds to make up the shortfall.

However, trust secretary Mick Freer said the site had never been sold. Its ownership had been transferred from Dudley Council to Stourbridge College and more recently to the Birmingham Metropolitan College, which has put it up for sale.

He described the deferral as a “blow” but vowed “failure is not an option” and is hopeful that once the forum has the ownership issue clarified it will support the grant.

Councillors Donella Russell, Ian Cooper and Andrea Goddard are understood to favour the application – and if the vote is split Cllr Russell could be called upon to make a casting vote as chairman.

Cllr James said after the meeting the forum had never before agreed to give funding to a single applicant which had already received the guideline maximum £5,000 grant from the Halesowen North and South Forum.

“With limited funds, we have to spread the grants across a wide range of worthy organisations,” he said.