Friday, May 13, 2011

Allotments under threat?

From the Independent:
Government paves way for sale of country's 300,000 allotments as plot-holders revolt over plan to scrap historic right to council land
By Jane Merrick and Mark Jewsbury
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Ian White and his daughters Roberta and Nico at the Honor Oak Park Allotments
JUSTIN SUTCLIFFE
Ian White and his daughters Roberta and Nico at the Honor Oak Park Allotments

The century-old right of people to demand an allotment from their council may be abolished by the Government under plans to scale back red tape, it emerged yesterday.
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.
The move has triggered a wave of protest from allotment society members and gardeners, who have lobbied Mr Pickles to rethink the plan

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