Kitchen Garden Forum

Allotments are definitely going to go! Planning permission passed for 900 houses! They still haven't found anywhere for us to go but claim we are at the end of the 9 year development so plenty of time!

Anyone that has visited lovely Christchurch & Mudeford will understand the impact this will have on this beautiful spot! 900 + cars, already our schools are full, hospitals packed as population mostly older & our town heaves in the Summer with visitors as it is! Sad times & not just for the lottie but the whole community!

Westi

Commiserations, Westi! That is dreadful news. And 900 houses seems to be so excessive. Any chance of it being reduced a bit? And will the allotment holders be given another plot?

We have just heard of a new planning application in our village, albeit much smaller, when 34 houses will be built overlooking the allotments when at the moment we are completely surrounded by fields. It's likely to be approved, I should think, but compared to your community's plight, Westi, our problem is teeny-weeny.

Yes, I am so sorry to Westie. Why does it always have to be allotments that get to go under concrete? Once lost they will never be replaced. I think it is an on going fight for everyone with an allotment to keep it well cultivated so no excuse for local authorities to plough up.

Do hope they find you another suitable site although I am sure it will never be the same for you. So sad. What will there be left for future generations to enjoy.

Beryl.

We're getting 2,200 enclosing the rugby club togethet with an ancient listed (SSI) woodland and taking in many fields plus a long vacant allotment site.
Basically as much as they can build on inside the town bypass, built in the seventies.

Then they'll look to the south side and the last uncovered edge.

It's kind of put it in perspective - yes lottie's going to go but our little town is going to suffer! At least we're going somewhere but community is going nowhere!

Westi

That is such a terrible shame westi. I don't really know what to say.

So sorry Westi, I hope they find a decent site for you and not the worst bit of soil around. Do you have any input?

Does anyone know what happened to the plot holders of the site they bulldozered for the Olympic park? I think they should have gone round it, it would have been a great feature of British life.

MW

I am really sad for you all, not just the plot holders but for the whole community. The sad fact is that our population is just growing too rapidly for us to be able to sustain what is our current way of life, and every year, a little more of our precious land will simply disappear under concrete. One wonders at what point the politicians will have the courage to get to grips with this and encourage a different way of life to reverse the procedure. I do hope they will find you some suitable alternatives, but of course they will never replace all the hard work, toil and soil improvement you have all put in over the years.

Dear Westi, i know it's a long way, but you are always welcome on my plots.

I wonder if they really do realize how it effects peoples lives. But if they must use allotments for building, they could at least provide ready to use sites, that have decent soil and ammenities, as they are making huge sums of money from the sale of the allotments.

That is bad news and I am sorry to hear it, Westi. You have my sympathy and I wish you well in finding another plot.
Houses are of little use without employment, so I hope that these 900 people/famiies will have employment opportunities within the immediate area, so that they develop and remain in the local community.
Here, there is lots of residential development as we are a 40 minute train journey out of Euston, so the focus is on commuting. I worry about keeping the town's high street busy and interesting, with people develping a loyalty to the town.

Tell Eric Pickles that allotments must not be sold off!

Responsible department: Department for Communities and Local Government

Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, is examining plans to free local authorities from a 103-year-old obligation to provide plots of public land for cultivation by gardeners. The proposals could see local authorities, many of them strapped for cash under government-imposed cuts, selling off allotment land for social housing or even for profit to major companies.

This e-petition has received the following response:

As this e-petition has received more than 10 000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response:

An e-petition has been suggesting that the Department for Communities and Local Government is examining plans to remove council duties to provide allotments. This is completely untrue and has no basis in fact.

In 2011, the Government compiled a list of statutory duties that councils must follow, but Ministers made very clear to Parliament there were no plans to change any of the duties on allotments (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/p ... 5257001663). This remains the case.

Local authorities continue to have a specific responsibility for the management and provision of allotments in their area, ensuring those who want to start an allotment can do so. There are no plans to change this, and the e-petition’s claims are simply false.

In January 2014, the Department published Allotment Disposal Guidance: Safeguards and alternatives (https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ternatives), replacing the previous guidance from 2002. The new guidance strengthens allotment protection, as the requirement for waiting lists to be taken into account must now be rigorously applied to all that council’s waiting lists, not just the waiting list for the site to be disposed of. This aims to ensure that poorly maintained sites are not used to justify disposal.

The Government has introduced a range of measures to help communities who want land to grow fruit and vegetables. Through new community rights, local residents have increased opportunities to protect existing allotments from development and increase provision of green spaces. For example, in Thame, in Oxfordshire, their new neighbourhood plan will create an additional hectare of allotment land. Allotments have also been listed as assets of community value.

As part of our commitment to supporting local community groups, the Department has also published a best practice guide for community groups wanting to find land to grow fruit and vegetables

(https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ng-a-guide)

and an additional guide on establishing community orchards and other spaces for food growing (https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... w-to-guide).

This e-petition remains open to signatures and will be considered for debate by the Backbench Business Committee should it pass the 100 000 signature threshold.

It surely is a great shame when we loose any of our countryside be it in a rural or urban setting. I confess to being not very politically correct but wish no one any ill but I'm completely against the relentless rise in population of these crowded islands that successive governments have deemed good for us. Once gone any productive land, be it an urban allotment or a rural meadow, is lost from us for ever and I am not happy with this ever growing loss. I do not know the latest laws on allotments (be it new ones to meet demand or replacing ones that have been developed) but if there is any obligation on councils to supply them I am damn sure that there is no time limit on how long they need to take. Perhaps I am wrong if so I will be pleased to be corrected. It is inevitable that to meet the needs of the ever increasing population productive land will be lost since houses will be needed to be built as a major priority, whether this is progress I'm not so sure.

Barney