Bridport: Gardeners dig in to defend allotment land (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

Bridport: Gardeners dig in to defend allotment land

10:17am Thursday 4th February 2010

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GARDENERS in Bridport are ‘digging in’ to defend their allotment land.

The have been called to arms after news that more than half those on the waiting list for plots come from outside the town.

Now officials are urging surrounding parishes to make a bigger effort to provide their own land.

Colin Sparkes, chairman of Bridport and District Allotments Society, says the boom in grow-your-own vegetables is putting huge pressure on available sites in the town.

He said the demand for allotments in Bridport was soaring, with 85 on the waiting list – 49 of whom come from outside the parish.

He said: “In the past few years the town council has provided some 30 extra plots but there is no way, with the present demand, that they will be able to satisfy local applicants let alone those outside the parish.

“Some of the adjacent parish councils provide plots – Burton Bradstock, Puncknowle, Loders, and Symondsbury – but all have waiting lists of their own, I believe.”

Mr Sparkes said the problem they faced was that land owners were not coming forward to offer ground, despite the fact that allotments could generate up to £400 per acre compared with about £100 per acre from an agricultural tenancy.

Now he is calling on parish councils to ‘think positively’ about the problem and do their best to persuade local land owners to rent or lease suitable land to them.

Currently an allotment measuring 300 square yards in Bridport costs £12 a year to rent plus a small fee for water. Half plots are available at £6.

Mr Sparkes said the low cost together with an increasing desire for healthy home-grown produce had led to a big increase in demand for plots.

“There are new ones coming on stream in Bridport – at Rivervale and the new community orchard – but not enough to satisfy all the local demand let alone that from outside the parish,” he said.

Town council surveyor Daryl Chambers said: “The town council works closely with the Bridport and District Allotments Society in the management of the allotments in the town.

“Also working with West Dorset District Council and Magna Housing Association, the town council has been able to provide a number of new allotment sites over the past couple of years, including the Skilling extension and the Priory Lane Community Orchard allotments.

“We are constantly on the look out for new sites and any ideas or suggestions to increase the supply of allotments in the area would be welcomed.”

l A guide to allotments in West Dorset – Get Growing – is available on the district council website at www.dorsetforyou.com

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