Hi Borderbabe
I am sorry to hear about the threat to your allotments.
Over the years there have been countless cases where Local Planning Authories in joint venture with large developers have chosen to sell off valuable allotment sites and it will depend greatly on your individual circumstances.
The aquisition of allotment land is a very complex one and you need to be prepared for a long and painful fight with the Local Authority(if they own the land) and you will need expert legal advice from someone who is familiar with allotment law.
The National Association of Allotment Holders is a good start and they will give you the basic information where and how to go about it, they are very experienced with disposal of allotment sites but they have lost consideral sums of money in recent years trying to help local allotment associations so they may be reluctant to help you directly with financial assistance.
My best advice to you is to get in early, don't delay, and lodge your objections with the Secretary of State well before the decision to dispose of the land is determined.
Having said that a word of caution I can tell you from bitter experience as an honarary life time member of the Littlecoates Allotment Association in Grimsby, approach your campaign with caution and do your homework.
All Local Authorities have delegated powers and they will use every trick in the book to evict you.......be prepared it will not be easy and you are unlikely to suceed unless there are covanants in the deeds of the land which prevent change of use........check at your local land registry office for details.
In 1996 North East Lincolnshire put forward a proposal to dispose of half our allotment site to build 330 houses as part of a larger scheme to build on an adjacent land - fill site called Macauley Lane.
We fought for over 5 years to thwart the £20 million scheme which finally ended up in the Courts. It cost the Littlecoates Allotment Association nearly £25k in legal fees with a further donation from the National Association of £6K.We lost the case and was a land mark case, hence the reason why the National Associatiion will give you advice but unlikely to support your case financially.
I would be happy to give you any advice I can but the Macauley Lane debacle exhausted me mentally nad I would not be prepared to go any further than that.
If you care to e-mail me at sales@heatie-wheatie.co.uk I will e-mail my telepnone number and you can contact me if you wish.
Regards
