Following the transfer of the three allotments sites to Alderley Edge Parish Council from Cheshire East, parish councillors have met with their legal adviser to discuss how they move forward with their plans to relocate the Heyes Lane allotments.
Cllr Mike Williamson said "The arrangement which existed between Cheshire East Council and the Alderley Edge Allotments and Garden Society is enforced at the moment but does not meet the needs of the Parish Council. We discussed our options and they boil down to a very simple choice.
"To meet the aspirations of the Parish Council we need to give notice to the allotment holders on Heyes Lane that we are going to close the Heyes Lane site and we need to give notice to Chorley Hall Lane and Beech Close that we are going to change the contractual arrangements which exist at the moment between them and the Parish Council. So that would not materially change how Chorley Hall Lane and Beech Close are managed except that Cheshire East would be replaced with Alderley Edge Parish Council as the management.
"The logic of that is instead of having one group that controls all allotments we would have separate groups and we will move forward with our ambition to create a new allotment site at Lydiat Lane.
"The legal position is that we can give them notice and it is for the Parish Council to decide when that's appropriate. We can give them 3 month or 6 month or 12 month notices, it is entirely up to us what we do and we just need to get together as a group and discuss how we are going to move forward.
"The financial situation is that the Alderley Edge Allotments and Garden Society receive about 30% of the income from the allotments as a management fee but we still don't know, as Cheshire East have not provided us with the information, what the actual charge to the tenants of the allotments is and what income would be derived from that."
He added "As far as Heyes Lane goes the important issue for us is to get Lydiat Lane sorted out and move forward with that and obviously Frank, as our Cheshire East councillor and member of the Parish Council, is pushing Cheshire East very hard to resolve that issue which will hopefully be done shortly."
Cllr Nigel Schofield asked about the planting season and whether allotment holders would already be planting now for next summer.
Cllr Mike Williamson responded "Just because we issue notices for them to quit and issue new leases it doesn't mean that anything changes in terms of the next growing season as our target is obviously tied in with the medical centre."
Alderley Edge Parish Council plans to relocate the Heyes Lane allotments to land off Lydiat Lane, which is owned by Alderley Edge School for Girls. This will enable them to build a car park on the Heyes Lane site, providing additional spaces for both the new medical centre and revamped hall.
The relocation of the allotments relies on Alderley Edge School for Girls being able to use another plot of land, which is currently owned by Cheshire East Council, to build a new sports facility on. The proposed site is former farm land adjacent to the bypass and near the Harden Park roundabout. The Parish Council are still waiting for confirmation as to whether this land will be given to them.
The Heyes Lane allotment site was gifted to the Council's predecessor authority in 1917 and is subject to a covenant that it could not be used other than as open space, recreational ground, playing fields, allotments and public gardens. Therefore the Parish Council need to obtain permission from De Trafford Estates for that covenant to be lifted. They also need permission from the Secretary of State to relocate the allotments and from Cheshire East Council, as landowners.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Just to clarify, the ownership of the allotment sites is still with Cheshire East Council. The leaseholdership of the three allotment sites has been transferred to Alderley Edge Parish Council.
They do not own the allotment sites.
Neither do they have the discretion to allocate use of the sites to anything other than as Allotment Gardens.
Seems to me that in their frantic rush to demonstrate that they won't bow down to anything as irritating as public opposition, the AEPC are putting the cart before the horse. If the above is true, would it not be logical to seek the permission to use the land first and, only once permission is granted (God forbid), then serve notice on the allotment holders? Or are the AEPC so arrogant as to believe both of the aforementioned requirements are formalities and 'a done deal'? Wouldn't they look foolish if they went to all the trouble and upset of relocating the allotments, only to discover that permission was not granted?
The Festival Hall will host the most humungus party to celebrate. Shared supper tables and byo and it should be a great night. In about a year we will start taking names of people who want to be there to welcome the new facilities.