Having instructed allotment holders at Heyes Lane to vacate their plots, Alderley Edge Parish Council are moving forward with plans to move them off the site so a car park can be built.
The Parish Council notified the allotment holders of their intention to terminate the tenancy agreement towards the end of May, giving them three months notice, however they have been challenging the notice served by the Parish Council to quit the site.
Speaking at the Parish Council meeting on Monday, 8th September, Cllr Frank Keegan said "We gave formal notice to allotment holders to quit Heyes Lane. We had to give three months notice, the three months is up but because of the growing season we didn't enforce that.
"The Allotment Society complained that we haven't yet been to the Minister to get approval under Section 8. We should be having a special meeting of the Council before the end of September at which we shall pass a motion that the allotments on Heyes Lane be classified as non-statutory from statutory. This follows the information we've had from DCLG as to how we move from one to the other and we're currently awaiting a formal legal opinion which says we are entitled to exercise that option.
"Heyes Lane will not then be covered by Section 8 therefore we do not need to approach the Minister which means that the notice we gave some months ago becomes enforced by the end of september, which is the end of the growing season any case."
Alderley Edge Parish Council also passed two motions at their meeting on Monday, 8th October. The first of which was to agree that by 29th September 2014 revised rents will be issued to the Allotment Society for the qualifying sites.
Cllr Frank Keegan explained "Every year we have the privilege of issuing rent notices to the allotment society. We had to give them 3 months notice and we've given them 3 months notice so we need to tell them by September 29th what the new rates are."
There was no mention at the meeting of what the existing rent is and what the revised rent will be.
The second motion was that Alderley Edge Parish Council cancel the involvement of Alderley Edge Allotment & Gardens Society in the management of the allotment sites from September 2015. The management of the sites will be undertaken by AEPC.
Cllr Keegan said "The tenancy agreements say you have to give 12 months notice of cancellation. We've had a difficult time with the Allotment Society, it's been very difficult to get them to come to speak to us, far less to come and talk to us on a sensible basis. So our option is the cancel the involvement of the allotment society in the management of the tenancy agreements. This is all three sites. It doesn't change anything with the allotments, it just means the management of them will not be with the Allotment Society."
He added "We have told the Allotment Society privately that there is no reason why they cannot continue to have involvement with the Parish Council but it would be on a different tenancy agreement and it would be on the basis that they actually cooperate with us from time to time. We have to force them to bring us information that is due under the tenancy agreement. We virtually have to frog march them in here to give it to us so we need a different arrangement but we will give them formal notice of 12 months that from September 2015 they're cancelled."
The Parish Council intends to open a new statutory allotment site at Lydiat Lane, on land leased from Alderley Edge School for Girls. The Parish Council will relocate the current tenants of the Heyes Lane allotments to this new site, or to plots on one of the other two sites, at Chorley Hall Lane and Beech Road, depending on individual preference.
Cllr Keegan confirmed that tests have been carried out at six locations on the Lydiat Lane site, that it has been established that there is good drainage on there and they intend to set up the new allotments as soon as possible.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
"Can you honestly and publicly declare that you know of no plan to use that land for residential or commercial development?....straight question!"
but no response was received other than an insult and no apology that I am aware of ... but I am happy to be proved wrong.
Spray them with a Yoghourt mix and they go green
You get 4 levels in the space of 3 concrete ones , and they can be "disappeared" by going green .
Then there is no need to concrete over the allotments.
I would take a photo of the German car parks , but the firm I am involved with on the SAP complex is closing and I probably won't get out there again
If anyone else is in the vicinity .......
But surely the council cannot simply change the status of an allotment from statutory in order to dispose of it? That would completely disregard all of the safeguards in the Act.
There's advice from the Government to local councils in how to legally dispose of statutory allotment land. None of which mentions the option to simply change its status. It says the Secretary of State must be consulted. http://bit.ly/XdRLmg
'1.5 Councils cannot dispose of statutory allotment land without the Secretary of State’s consent. Section 8 of the Allotments Act 1925 states – “Where a local authority has purchased or appropriated land for use as allotments the local authority shall not sell, appropriate, use or dispose of the land for any purpose other than use for allotments without the consent of the Secretary of State”.'
hopefully nearer the time of building the car park, the public will have a chance to contribute to the design.
There will be an ingress and egress point; oh no! ignore the management speak! there will be an in and an out opening.
Given that there will be people attending the new medical centre, now is the time to argue for a zebra crossing on Heyes Lane?
If there are two in/outs and a zebra crossing, might that slow down the driver speeds?
In my experience of asking CE to alter things re. cars/speeding etc. their usual arguement is that there has not been any accident; which suggests alas, that someone has to get mown down before anything will be done.
Any volunteers? Please don't suggest me !
You kindly answer one question i.e. Emme, but skirt around the others i.e. legality and need etc. Is this because you don't know and are being led by Mr Keegan or just don't really care about other peoples concerns?
The answer as we all know is worse by a significant margin.
It is very clear that increased restrictions are being placed on the village to raise further parking issues and bolster support for the white elephant of Heyes Lane car park.
the details of matters concerning the Heyes Lane allotments are being dealt with by a committee of three parish councillors (Councillors Keegan, Williamson & Maczkowiak) and if you wish to put specific questions to them such as the legality matters, I am sure that they will answer you. The details are not within my brief.
Or you might care to attend a monthly parish council meeting, where there is a 20 minute period, near the start time, when any member of the public can ask questions.
When you suggest that I 'don't really care about other peoples' concerns', that is just gratuitous insult; which doesn't help at all.
Richard,
there has alas been a reduction in the amount of parking in the village. But some of that is a direct result of the wishes of people living in the village e.g. the several streets where parking has become limited to residents only and other is due to the business of the owner e.g. the West Street car park no longer being available to the public.
I will repeat that which has been said before; surely no-one can deny that there is a great shortage of car parking places, which is detrimental to people living in the village, to people working in the village, to would-be shoppers in the village and to shops in the village. If someone can come up with a plan to alleviate all this, without involving Heyes Lane allotments, then please let's hear it.
Also what is your take on the parish council plan to replace the Heyes Lane allotments with a larger allotments site, at the other end of the village?
You have taken my statement 'I don't really care about other peoples concerns' out of context. This was in response to, as far as I was concerned, selective answering to questions.
I appreciate your kind offer for me to attend the Parish council meetings, but unfortunately, my employment working patterns do not allow this freedom.
It therefore falls to articles like this to keep me, and others, informed and allows us the 'electorate' to ask questions.
My particular frustration with this issue is how certain Councillers 'rock up' on this site, castigate the allotment holders (or any one who deems to question the motive). Then refuses to answer basic questions, which have now come to light, over the actual use of the carpark i.e. not for the development of the hall, but for general use.
The Parish Council have confused the issue, not necessarily you, by linking the halls development and the need for the carpark in its own right.
The actual argument is wether the allotment should be sacrificed for a carpark for the commercial viability of Alderly Edge. In other words, a fixed percentage of the new space be given over to long stay, commercial and business needs, with the remaining held over for the public. I have no doubt we will have to pay for the this privillage even though we already own the land.
A reasoned discussion could then have taken place about keeping the allotment, and it's place within the village, character etc. against the commercial needs of Alderley Edge. Swapping one allotment site to another would still alter the character of the village.
Instead we have a situation were PC's come out with differing requirement statements, allotment holders being, and I quote, 'frog marched' to meetings and a confused voting public.
The plans for the New Medical Centre were being drawn up in December 2011, revealed in January 2012 and submitted around May 2012.
Council Members can be found repeatedly saying on this site as early as November 2011 that the Medical Centre and Heyes Lane Car Park are linked. However the planning application (submitted 6+ months later) makes it very clear enough parking is available on the festival hall site only. Does this mean a knowingly fraudulent planning application was submitted by the Council?
Will the new sports facility at a certain local private school only be built if the allotments are moved to the new site?