Sale of Chigwell Road allotments put on hold (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Sale of Chigwell Road allotments put on hold

3:31pm Tuesday 17th July 2007 in

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A PITCHFORK rebellion has seen Redbridge Council put plans to sell off the Chigwell Road allotment site on hold.

The man in charge of allotments, Cllr Ronnie Barden, visited the site in Woodford Green on Sunday morning along with council officers to hear plotholders' concerns over their proposed eviction.

When word got out, however, more than 100 residents of neighbouring streets turned up to make their feelings known at the prospects of the site being sold to developers.

Plotholder Paul Howe, who has tended a plot on the site for six years, said: "They assume that we're all archaic potato diggers without any common sense at all. It started off OK and we were having a sensible discussion but they came there expecting to see only the plotholders and it got rather heated.

"Suffice to say that the feeling against closing the allotments was very strong.

"I said to them you can't bring the meeting to a close before we have a decision and they decided to put the strategy to the cabinet on July 31 without Chigwell Road in it, and continue the consultation process."

Chigwell Road is one of five allotment sites across the borough that have been proposed for sale by the council in a move that could raise £25million.

The Chigwell Road site, however, has more plotholders than any other, and an occupancy rate of 96 per cent. Between half and two thirds of it sits on a flood plain, and the council's strategy document, containing proposals for the sale of the other four sites, will now go forward without Chigwell Road.

Cllr Barden said: "The meeting was larger than expected as local residents also attended. The speakers couldn't be heard properly and it was not possible to carry out the meeting as planned. I have therefore agreed to hold a further meeting.

"I was very pleased to be able to discuss with many of the plotholders, and some residents, the questions that I would have liked to have answered in the full meeting.

"The flood plain is clearly an issue here and I want a further detailed investigation of this so that its full implications can be taken into account."