The announcement that Udney Park will be kept open for public sporting use has been dismissed as nothing but “positioning” for a “grubby little land deal”.

Udney Park playing field was sold by Imperial College London to “retirement living specialist” Quantum Group in September, which has now said only “a portion” will be used for a care home.

It has made an agreement with Teddington Athletic Football Club to allow it to use Udney Park as a home ground and take over its day-to-day running.

Quantum describes this as a “fantastic opportunity” for residents to use its 12.3-acre outdoor space for sporting purposes.

However, Liberal Democrat Councillor Stephen Knight said the move was “just positioning” so Quantum could push through its their “grubby little deal”.

Other than playing fields, the plot currently has a clubhouse, seating stand, tennis courts, netball courts, cricket nets and pitches for both football and rugby – as well as a function room.

Simon Hammond, Quantum’s director, said the plan is to use ‘a portion’ of the site for elderly care, and the rest for sports and community use. Decisions on how the sporting facilities will be operated, whether that be pay-to-play or not, would be down to Teddington Atheletic.

Cllr Knight said: “People shouldn’t believe this is anything other than position for even a second.

“Quantum are just trying to put themselves in place to get a planning application approved – it’s camouflage for their grubby land deal.

“It’s important to remember Quantum bought this land from Imperial to turn a profit and nothing more.”

Udney Park is protected by its classification as land of ‘other open land of townscape importance’, meaning any development applications submitted to the council has a ‘presumption against it’.

However, Cllr Knight warned even if the planning committee rejected a proposal, ‘the door was open’ for Quantum, who could have an application approved through the planning inspectorate.

He said: “This is not brownfield land to be developed on; this is protected land and it is supposed to be used for community sporting use.

“And Quantum might get around our planning laws if they put forward a strong case to the planning inspectorate.”

Mark Jopling, of the Friends of Udney Park Playing Fields, said Teddington could not be used to set a precedent in which a private equity firm bought and developed on community land.

Mr Jopling said: “Saving all of Udney Park is about much more than pitches and wickets; community sport is essential to lifelong physical and mental health.

“Thriving local sports clubs run by volunteers are vital for a cohesive society. All green infrastructure is precious and protected.”