Graham, Tom and Ian

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Proposal for Gatley Hill allotments expansion

by Lib Dem team on 11 January, 2013

The Gatley Hill Allotment Society want to expand the existing allotments to take in a corner of Scholes Fields – and they want to know what you think of the idea.

People are currently waiting 3-4 years for an allotment. The size of allotment plots has been halved and halved again but still there’s a substantial waiting list. So the society have come up with the idea of expanding.

This map shows approximately where the new allotment area would be (it’s not entirely accurate, not least because I can’t see quite where to draw the line on Google Maps when the tree canopies shield the satellite from the ground).

View Gatley Hill allotments proposals map

The proposed expansion would take in the grass by the car park on the allotment side. On the field, you start at the gate, facing into the fields. On your immediate left is a tree. That would be left, with the new allotment boundary starting immediately east of the tree and running straight out into the field.

If you follow around the side of the field, there are a number of self-seeded trees until you come to an oak tree. That oak would also be left outside the allotments.

So the boundary on the field is got by drawing a line south from the tree by the gate and west from the oak tree, leaving both trees outside the allotments.

Any trees cut down would be replaced with new trees elsewhere and a new path around the boundary fence would be properly laid with a hard surface.

Some will know that there is a potential issue with the covenant on Scholes Fields, which is being looked into (as ever with these things, it’s very unclear what the covenant actually means in legal terms today).

What do you think? Feel free to let us know, or to contact the Gatley Hill Allotment Society directly.

   7 Comments

7 Responses

  1. Jane McKenzie says:

    I do use this area with cubs and scouts as well as an area where I walk. I think that there is a major shortage of allotments. I have no idea of the age profile but from my experience of community development work, allotments can be really beneficial to the people that use them. A lot of the housing for older people in Gatley is without any garden at all. On balance I think that this is a good use of the land. it is not going to be unsightly, is unlikely to do environmental harm and could do some good.

  2. Robert Taggart says:

    Better still – why not pull-down Wellcroft home and Park Mount flats – they are becoming nuisance neighbours !
    The allotments would be a far better site to look out onto !!

  3. mild says:

    I’m totally against the expansion onto gatley hill, this would surely only lead to further expansion in years to come.
    I can’t understand why the allotments at the end of leyland/sevenoaks was closed down some years ago, there is still land available there that could be turned back to allotments, this would protect gatley hill, and also stop any further new housing at the leyland/sevenoaks site.

  4. David Johnson says:

    I am extremely against the proposal. ‘Mild’ expresses my thoughts precisely. The Gatley area is already overdeveloped with less open space than some urban areas. It needs more! It certainly does not gain from less. My father used to have an allotment at the end of Leyland Avenue – why have they gone? Walking from my home in Lawson Avenue to Gatley shops via the Western boundary of Scholes fields is one of my pleasures!

  5. richard horsnell says:

    I’ll leave my abridged version as this website failed to save my previous comment when i forgot to fill in my e-mail address – most annoying.

    GHAS is very popular, propably one of the most successful sites is stockport. I support the proposal to extend the site but not in its current form. I think the site should be extended as one parcel, not split as the proposal shows.

    ‘Over developed’ Gatley needs more usable amenity space. The proposed extension to the main site does not impact on any quality amenity land.

    In addition the proposals are likely to improve the footpath surrounding the site and reduce the opportunity for fly tipping that currently plagues the car park.

    And so what if the allotments get extended in the future, Scholes field is fit for nothing but dogsh1t most of the year.

  6. Marion H says:

    As a resident of Park Mount flats could I please ask Mr Taggart to provide his definition of “nuisance neighbour”.

  7. Iain Roberts says:

    Richard – the extension is just one parcel. The map shows a boundary around the Scout hut which relates to another story from a while back. That was confusing so I’ve now deleted the extra boxes, leaving just the one relating to the allotments.

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