Decision hangs over Barnett Wood Lane Allotment holders opposing plots sell-off

Campaigners, who have submitted a petition with more than 2,750 signatures to save the Barnett Wood Lane Allotments, will speak at a council meeting next Tuesday, July 23, where councillors will discuss the preferred development plan for the first time behind closed doors.

On July 30 Mole Valley Council’s executive will decide whether to approve the plan, for the 9.5-acre and adjoining 22.7 acres of land owned by Merton College, Oxford, by the Leatherhead Bypass.

Five developers submitted proposals with three going through to the next stage. This month those options have been assessed by council officers and the college who have chosen the one they believe offers the two landowners "best consideration".

All details of the preferred proposal remain a closely guarded secret. 

The land is not designated for development and alterations to the road network could be needed if the cash-strapped council sells it off to help pay for services. 

There has been speculation that it could become anything from a retail village to a supermarket and housing.

Councillors have the power to reject the plan unless it enhances neighbouring towns and the surrounding district.

Campaigner John Weller, who was among 10 gardeners at the allotments on Monday, said the proposed relocation site was downwind of the M25, hard to reach, clay ridden and partly a floodplain.

Mr Weller said: "We are going to get noise, pollution and security problems. You are not going to be able to replace these apple trees and other crops overnight."

His wife Linda added: "Particularly elderly people are not going to have the heart to start again. Have they got enough strength, heart and ability? The answer is no."

The other gardeners, who explained their fears over the threat posed to their allotments and lives, were surrounded by wild flowers and vegetation and the smell of fresh manure hung in the air.

The public can attend the campaigners’ presentation and a response to it on Tuesday at the meeting, starting at 7pm, at the council chamber in Pippbrook, Dorking.

But they will be excluded when councillors start discuss the developer’s plans because of concerns over commercial confidentiality.

If the council enters into a development agreement at the end of this month then the decision will not be announced until mid-August due to requirements of the procurement process.

Councillor Charles Yarwood, portfolio holder for communities and assets, said: "If the council decided to proceed, it remains committed to bring any new allotments up to a better or equal standard to the existing site."

Joy Playford, 88, says she will be forced to give up keeping an allotment if the council goes ahead with plans to build on her carefully tended plot of 26 years.

Ms Playford, 88, said said she cannot drive and is not well enough to start again at a proposed relocation site across the M25.

She said: "It's a shame because I love it. I live nearby and it's lovely that I can come up here because there is only me at home with the cats now.

Joy Playford in front of her beloved allotment

"I love growing things and you can meet everybody. It would be a shame to give it up."

Her allotment, with hollyhocks, is situated by an air raid shelter converted into a shed and she said badgers, who apparently like sweet corn, sometimes visit.

Ms Playford said: "If you're out late in the summer you can hear them snuffling."

Joy Playford by the air raid shelter turned into a shed

Pensioner Jenny Smith, whose parents once owned allotments at Barnett Wood Lane Allotments, said: "Let Merton College sell their bits and leave us alone.

"It's been a way of life for me. When I look out of my bedroom window, there it all is. I can't imagine life without it."

She said: "It’s so nice to have fresh vegetables. You can’t beat going into the garden, picking broad beans then going inside and cooking them."

She said she has planted wild flowers to attract bees as well as sunflowers, onions, raspberries and other vegetables.

Jenny Smith and Joy Playford

Joanna Vinall, 42, who has had an allotment at the site for 16 months, said: "There’s a big demand for allotments and they have all got long waiting lists. I was really lucky to get one here.

But Ms Vinall said she would not have accepted a place at the proposed relocation site.

She said: "It’s too far away and remote. I’m always here on my own and just walk down in the evening.

"Even if I had a garden I would prefer to have an allotment because people are always around who can give you advice."

Joanna Vinall stands third from left with other allotment holders

Clare Cross, from Ashtead Learning Difficulties Action Group (ALDAG), said she works with four people with learning difficulties on the allotments.

Ms Cross said they were hoping to grow vegetables for the action group’s cafe and equip people with the skills to possibly work in people’s gardens.

She said: "It’s also the social interaction. They are gelling as a group and getting more confident about the work they are doing and needing less direction."

The Leatherhead Youth Project, which works with disadvantaged young people, and Leatherhead Start, which helps homeless people, also reportedly have allotments at the site.