THE lodge house to a public park in Poole has been taken off the market after being put up for sale in controversial circumstances.

Callers to the local estate agent instructed by Poole council are being told Alexandra Park Lodge has been removed to “sort out legal anomalies”, although the For Sale board is still being displayed.

In 2010, local residents campaigned against a scheme to turn the former park keeper’s home into a children’s centre.

At the time, the planning committee rejected the change of use on the grounds that the loss of public open space would go against policy.

But last December, the council granted itself a certificate to confirm the land as residential, removing it from the open space designation of the park and paving the way for a sale.

Resident Sue Hockey has now made a formal complaint to the borough’s chief executive, John McBride, claiming the council failed to consult with the community.

She believes money raised from the sale should go towards improving the well-used Edwardian park.

“I think they have shown a total lack of transparency,” she said. “I’ve asked other residents about this. Every one of them said they haven’t got a problem with it being disposed of, just the way the council has gone about it.

“All any of them wanted was a nice family living there and the house being used. When I did ask the question last October, they knew what was going on, but nobody gave me an answer.”

Jim Bright, strategic director at the council, said: “Alexandra Park Lodge is a self-contained building and in practical terms it is not accessible to the public.

“While the land has never been available to residents as public open space, we have treated it as such and gone through the relevant procedures for its formal change of use to a residential dwelling.

“A public notice relating to the intention to dispose of the public open space was advertised in the local press in February this year.

“This involved a planning process which was completed in December 2011. As part of these processes, matters raised were given due consideration.”

He added: “The council is undertaking an internal review on disposals which has resulted in the disposal of Alexandra Park Lodge being put on hold.”