THE future of Tomatoland was the big issue in the Gazette 25 years ago.

The district council was told it had to decide if it was going ahead to develop the site, dubbed "Malvern's key development site off Pickersleigh Road".

If it didn't, it faced the prospect of repaying a £40,000 govern- ment subsidy it had used to buy the land some 18 years previously.

The council's housing committee said that the nine-acre site should be sold for private sector homes, with the council having the right to buy 20-30 houses to sell to its own tenants.

But one councillor said the site would be ideal for a sports complex and a new council HQ and depot.

However, another councillor said "To suggest these grandiose schemes is just pie in the sky at the moment."

In the end, the housing faction won and Tomatoland became the Harbinger Avenue estate.