Growing demand for good life threatens plotholders (From Echo)

Growing demand for good life threatens plotholders

5:50pm Saturday 4th July 2009 in

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ALLOTMENT holders who are not tending their plots could have them taken away by a town council to cope with the demand.

The measures are being considered by Rayleigh Town Council, which looks after the town’s allotments, because about 80 people are on the waiting list to get hold of them.

The town council may also renovate overgrown land which it owns to create more plots to meet the unprecedented number of requests.

Town chairman David Sperring said: “We’ve gone round and inspected and it’s evident some people are not working their sites.

“It may be for reasons of illness, so we are contacting them on an individual basis to see whether the site might be too big for them or they could be losing interest.

“It’s not a draconian thing. We aren’t going to kick people off the site if there’s a genuine reason.

“We are approaching them in a conciliatory way and are looking at the whole issue, because the demand is there.”

Mr Sperring said historically, there were always more plots than people who wanted them.

But demand has taken off in the past two years and increased last year by 20 per cent as more and more people wanted to grow their own vegetables.

Another reason is that a lot of new homes have smaller gardens with less space to grow fruit and vegetables.

So town councillors have come up with the scheme to possibly take over overgrown and unused plots.

People will initially be written to and asked if they still want to use their plot, or whether they want to see it reduced in size.

The town council owns about 150 plots in Rayleigh at sites in Grove Road, Lower Wyburns, Kenilworth Gardens and Sweyne Park.

Allotment holder Sheila Boulter, 60, of Rochford Hall Close, Rochford, tends allotments near Manners Way, Prittlewell, which are run by Southend Council, but said she supported Rayleigh’s plans.

She said: “I think using overgrown land is a good way of meeting demand for more plots.

“I also definitely think re-using plots which aren’t being used is a good idea.”