By Harry Mottram: A dispute has arisen over the Council’s handling of the termination of the lease on the Combe Down Allotments as the Friends publish a list of grievances over the affair. They take to task a letter the Council has published about their actions in attempting to prevent the owner of the land from ending the lease. It is generally thought the owner does not live in Bath will press ahead with some form of development on the land.
In a letter seen by Bath Voice, the Friends gave some of the background. The allotments at Combe Down have been leased by the Council for over 130 years and are owned by a distant relative of the original owners, who announced he will formally serve notice to end the lease in 2025. Public meetings have been held to discuss the crisis which will see allotment holders having to vacate the site while the public and locals have rallied round with 6,000 people signing a petition plus support from local councillors and the MP. The Friends said they are about to make an application to the Council to have the site registered as an Asset of Community Value.
In a letter they said: “It transpires that the Council knew about the owner’s decision to terminate the lease a full 6 months before it informed the tenants. This has lead to grave concerns that the Council is not backing the local community in its fight to save the allotments, and that it is not prepared to use all its powers to secure the site.”
The Friends also criticised the council for a lack of clarity in the details of there legal work to secure the allotments, and also a letter written by Lynda Deane, Head of Service, Town and City Centre Management that they feel gives the case of saving the allotments low priority.
In their letter to Lynda Deane they wrote: “The letter makes no reference to the Council’s public commitment to supporting the increased provision allotments and local food growing, both through the West of England Joint Green Infrastructure Strategy (2020 – 2030) and its own Green Infrastructure Strategy (2013). The Council’s own Climate and Biodiversity Emergencies rightly give climate actions a sense of urgency, yet saving a major local food growing site in the city and providing enough allotments for a large new housing development is given ‘no timescale..”
The letter goes on to raise the issue of a lack of allotments in Bath and mentioned the time in 2016 the Council took cash from the Mulberry Park regeneration scheme specifically to build new allotments but failed to do so.
With no sign of a further public meeting the Friends said they would be keen to serve as part of a working group, ‘to assess the capacity of the area to provide an alternative site for allotments, in addition to providing the allotments already paid for by the Mulberry Park developers.’
The Council have issued this which covers the issue of the allotments and the termination of the lease in 2025:
Residents, allotment holders and the community have been updated on the future of Combe Down allotments – following a landowner’s advance warning of his intention to end a lease of the land occupied by Bath & North East Somerset Council.
A detailed letter has been sent setting out the complex legal situation, the progress that the council has made to date, its willingness to engage with the landowner and its commitment to remain on the site so that the long history of food growing and allotments afforded to the community of Combe Down could continue.
Currently there are 64 allotments on the land off St Winifred’s Drive which the council leases, however the landowner has given advance warning of his intention to end the lease in 2025.
Councillor Tim Ball, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “This is a complex legal situation which we are doing our very best to resolve because our goal has always been for allotments to remain on this site, we know how important they are to many people.
“While we do not have a final outcome at this stage, we are contacting everyone involved, to keep them updated of the current situation following legal advice we have received. In addition the council has looked into what available avenues, under the statutory provisions, it has to retain the land for allotments. This included exploring any acquisition powers for the site.
“At the same time, we have requested meetings with the landowner to understand why he intends to serve Notice. Unfortunately, all requests to meet have, to date, been declined through his solicitor, alongside a repeat of his intention to serve Notice on the council in 2025.”
Councillor Ball added: “The council is exploring alternative options but there is no timeframe over which the obligation for an allotment site must be satisfied. However, we really want to work with the allotment holders and the community of Combe Down to assist us in locating an alternative, suitable and affordable site if the landowner serves notice.”
Bath & North East Somerset Council has written to the landowner stating that in the council’s opinion he is required under statutory allotment law to serve 12 months’ formal notice of his intention to terminate the lease, not the three months’ notice that is stated within the terms of the current lease for the land. The landowner has not responded to this position as yet.
Councillor Ball said: “We have sent a further letter, in a final attempt to engage, setting out that the council still wishes to enter constructive and co-operative negotiations to enter into a new lease for the current allotments. However, this would exclude the land known as The Paddock as it is not currently being used as an allotment site. This is the area of land off St Winifred Drive. We are waiting to hear back from his solicitors.”
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