Allotment deal could be scuppered by finances in North Somerset, UK

The proposed site would fit at least 21 allotments.

“I have spent four years trying to agree allotments for this site, but the items that they have brought up are never going to be done. North Somerset’s planning officers couldn’t run a bath.”

By James Franklin
The West Murcury
February 21, 2012

Excerpt:

A deal between the authority, North Somerset Council and developer Persimmon Homes had been struck to create new plots at Old Mill Way in Locking Castle.

But the extra costs attached to the deal by North Somerset planners would push the price above £40,000 – and beyond the town council’s budget.

The triangular site, located between two railway lines, has long been earmarked for use for allotments as part of an agreement between Persimmon and North Somerset.

The developer’s plans to build 46 homes on the site were approved by the unitary authority last July, with the added provisos that 21 allotment plots and a nature reserve also be included.

But despite protracted meetings between representatives of the two authorities, the cost of sticking to conditions imposed by North Somerset’s planning officers is now likely to scupper the move.

The town council would have to pay for detailed landscaping, construction of the first 15 metres of a planned track in tarmac, and a variety of new fences and gates.

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