THE LEADER of Redditch Borough Council has moved to quell fears that allotments will be not be sold off in the borough.
Conservative councillor for Astwood Bank and Feckenham Coun Chris Holz questioned the council’s commitment to protecting allotments after the government approved the sale of eight allotment sites in Somerset, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Nottinghamshire, West Sussex, Derbyshire and Kent since taking power.
Labour councillors admitted they had ‘no desire’ to sell allotments, but Coun Holz said they refused to commit to statutory protection under the Allotments Act 1925 – the only safeguard that would guarantee allotments could not be sold off without ministerial approval.
He said: “It was good to hear Labour say they have no current desire to sell allotments, but that’s not the same as a cast-iron guarantee.
“Residents want certainty that these sites will never be lost.”
Coun Matt Dormer, leader of the Conservative Group, added: “Allotments are more than just land.
“They are vital community assets that support families, wellbeing and healthy living.
“Labour’s warm words are welcome, but words are not enough.
“Unless every site is made statutory, residents have no real protection – only a promise that could change at any time.”
The Conservative Group will now bring forward a motion to full council calling for every allotment site in Redditch to be designated as statutory and for a binding commitment that no allotment land will be sold or built on for housing.
Redditch Borough Council leader, Coun Sharon Harvey, said nobody at the council had any intention of selling allotments.
“We have never even considered changing council policy on any of our allotments.
“Everyone agrees our allotments are a cherished community asset and, as for the future, nothing will change our commitment to them including throughout the process of local government reorganisation.”
