Allotments are on the Agenda

Faced with growing waiting lists and an increasing number of complaints, Cllr Colin Taylor (Lib Dem, Stamford) has asked the Chairman of the council's Leisure Committee to put allotments on the agenda of the next meeting in October.

Cllr Taylor has learned that there are 168 people on the waiting lists for an allotment, a far cry from 15 years ago when the council considered selling off allotment sites because of lack of interest. He feels the provision of allotments should be built into the borough's Local Development Framework.

"The increase in interest is no surprise" says Cllr Taylor "and actually we are not as bad as some districts where those on the waiting list will have to wait 10 years for a vacant plot to come up! If we don't act now though, that will be the situation in Epsom & Ewell. We should be building demand for allotments into our future plans and forge links with the health authorities which, in some parts of the country, 'prescribe' allotments for their health benefits."

The agenda item is expected to contain a report on the current policy of renting allotments, how allotment holders who no longer cultivate them are replaced and how new sites or extra plots could be created. One idea would be to reduce the plot size on less popular areas of sites, thereby creating a greater number of allotments which would in turn reduce the waiting lists.

Further information on allotments is available from Cllr Taylor or Cllr Julie Morris.