‘We're fuming – our wildlife will be wiped out’: Ashfield plot owners horrified as allotments to be destroyed for homes
Eight different sites across the UK have received approval from Angela Rayner to be sold or repurposed by local councils. This initiative has been referred to as the deputy PM's “war on allotments”, prompting responses from plot holders in Ashfield.
Her decision was revealed in a parliamentary answer last month and includes sites in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Kent, Hertfordshire and West Sussex.
Despite being listed on official government papers, some holders in Kingsway Allotments, in Ashfield, said they did not know their space was one of the eight listed until August 7.
Ashfield Council said the government approval was needed to repurpose some sites for car parking and it was not getting rid of the whole site for housing.
But its users said they were still shocked at not being told and would be "gutted" and "absolutely devastated" at the loss of any allotment site.
Tony Tilley, 59, has had a space at Kingsway allotments for six years.
He grows everything from potatoes to tomatoes, as well as sweetcorn, cabbages and carrots.
Tony, who has lived in Ashfield all his life, said: “It is absolutely disgusting.
“This government – I cannot believe they didn't even tell us.
“What can we do? We are going to fight it as best as we can. I am absolutely devastated.”
He says he loves sitting at the allotment site “all hours of the day”, listening to bird song, spotting and feeding the wildlife.
Tony added: “We are all here together as a community – everybody helps me as I have health conditions.
“I sit here in the morning and listen to the birds – blue tits and robins – there is all the wildlife here! We have hedgehogs, baby hoglets, foxes.”
Rayner is understood to have approved the sale or repurpose of eight allotment sites in England since Labour took power in order to raise money for councils budgets and provide space for the party's ambitious housing development plans.
Under the Allotments Act 1925, land that is designated ‘statutory allotment’ cannot be sold or repurposed without ministerial consent.
Rayner has received vast criticism for her actions – including former Labour leader and keen horticulturist Jeremy Corbyn, who has used an allotment near Islington, North London, for 22 years.
Another holder in Kingsway devastated by the news, Dab Abbott, 84, said he has had his allotment for 15 years.
He says to grow “every vegetable” in his allotment from cabbage, to potatoes, spring onions and even beans.
Mr Abbott said that without having an allotment he wouldn't “know what to do”.
He added: “Me being 84 and retired I go there everyday. It is better than watching TV day in and day out.
“I don't want that kind of life. I have been active all my life and that’s how I want to keep it. It gives me the drive to keep going.
“Without the allotment I don't know what to do.”
Mr Abbott added that he was in “shock and anger” after being told that allotments were under threat.
He said: “We have got to try and fight to keep them open.”
In the allotment community they know one another and trade vegetables between themselves, said Mr Abbott.
“They are all friendly people and we all have the same objective in mind to grow vegetables,” he said.
“It is a good outlet. The veggies you grow in the allotment are far superior than the ones in the supermarkets.”
Mr Abbott, who's also an aircraft fanatic said to like the allotment to watch planes flying over.
He said: “It is a space where I can sit there with my binoculars and watch the planes.”
He added that if allotments disappear he won't have a place to plant his vegetables as the only option is to rip his small lawn out and flowers which he does not want to do.
Keith Albon, 72, has had his allotment for 14 years said: “I'm absolutely devastated that allotments are going.”
He says to grow everything there, from potatoes to carrots and splits it with his sister who's got chickens in there.
“I grow everything there - all the vegetables that you can,” he said.
“We freeze a lot of the stuff, I can be eating potatoes from there next year.
“It is my basic hobby, I spend an awful lot of time there.
“Very important for my health and wellbeing. If I wasn't doing that I would be watching tv rotting away – that's no good to me.
“Meeting with the other people that are down there and speaking with other people is good. And that all accounts to wellbeing.
“If I wasn't going down the allotment I'd feel a bit isolated.”
He said there is no room in his house to grow vegetables.
“There is definitely no room in my house. The back has a lawn on it and the front is blocked paved,” he concluded.
Ashfield Council said it got government approval to repurpose allotment plots for parking – but said it was not getting rid of the whole site.
John Bennett, executive director of place for Ashfield Council said: “Following discussions with allotment holders, we agreed to repurpose two unused plots at Kingsway Allotments in Kirkby to provide much-needed parking facilities for existing users.
“This change of use was approved by the Secretary of State.
“This decision was made in direct response to feedback from allotment holders and aims to support and enhance their experience.
“The new parking facility has been completed, funded partly by the Council and partly by Lindum Construction as a social value contribution from their work on a nearby housing development.
“The plots are not being sold off, and there are currently no plans to dispose of any further allotment sites.”
The other sites listed in the government papers were:
- Land at Spaxton Allotments in Spaxton, Somerset.
- Lant at Wallingford Road Allotments, Wallingford Road, in Cholsey, Oxfordshire.
- Stapleton Garden Allotments, in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.
- Ravenscroft Allotments, Browns Lane Storrington, in Horsham, West Sussex.
- Longlands Allotment, off Longlands, and Longlands (Oxcroft) Oxcroft Lane, in Old Bolsover, Derbyshire.
- Churchfield Allotment Site, in Wye, Kent.
A spokesperson for the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) previously said that councils should only sell off allotments “where it is clearly necessary and offers value for money.”
They added: “We know how important allotments are for communities, and that is why strict criteria is in place to protect them, as well as school playing fields.”