No threat to allotments
23 Jan 2011
Despite the fact that there is no threat to allotments in Brentwood and the fact that they are council-owned, the Tories have started a petition to save them. Liberal Democrat councillors are furious that it seems the Tories have been scaremongering residents as part of their 2011 council election campaign.
Cllr Karen Chilvers, Brentwood West, said:
"I was alerted by a concerned resident who had been asked to sign the petition. I immediately set about investigating. It was confirmed by senior officers that:
- There had been a rumour, but it was completely unfounded and there was NO threat to the allotments
- The allotments are indeed council land and therefore, even if there was a request from a developer to either develop or buy the land, then a polite "no thank you" would all that would take to see that threat off
- Any decision to sell the land would need to be approved by the council's Policy Board, that consists of twelve Tories out of fifteen members.
- Sale of allotment land, whilst there is demand for it, is highly, highly unlikely."
Liberal Democrat councillors will continue to seek out the issues that matter to you and deal with them appropriately.