Give a £1 and let’s all save Farm Terrace!

How about having a whip-round on your site, asking your plot-holders to give a £1 each and donating to this important case? If the challenge is successful in the High Court it will help to clarify where exceptional circumstances apply in allotment disposal applications and strengthen protection for the nation’s plots.

Supporting Farm Terrace Allotments Campaign Group now could mean not having to fight to save your site in the future. Donate Here  (minimum £5 donation)

What’s happening at Farm Terrace Allotments?

In December 2014 Watford Borough Council put in their third application to dispose of the Farm Terrace allotment site in order to develop a “Health Campus” scheme, after a painfully long wait for the plot-holders, this was granted by a the Secretary of State in May 2016 and the campaigners are once again mounting a challenge in the High Court.

Although not all the policy criteria for allotment disposal were met, the council claimed, and the Secretary of State agreed, that exceptional circumstances applied in this case. This was a deeply disappointing decision; the Society does not consider that exceptional circumstances apply here or that Watford Council has proved that the site is crucial to the viability of the Health Campus scheme.

The Society find it most alarming that “exceptional circumstances” have been deemed to be proved in circumstances where no firm undertaking has been given as to what the land will be used for and the council itself has acknowledged that the development could go ahead without the allotments. Watford Council has argued that the allotments would provide readily developable land that could support important elements of their proposals. This could be argued by any council wanting to dispose of a site and we believe that allotment legislation should be strong enough to ensure that “exceptional circumstances” are truly exceptional.

What is the Society doing?

The Society has a consultative role in allotment disposal proceedings and at every step of the way has expressed its support for the campaigner’s case to fight the disposal of their site. With each application for disposal we have made submissions to the Secretary of State arguing that the site should not be deregulated. The Society will be now offering substantial financial and moral support to the unstinting Farm Terrace campaigners in this challenge to the High Court.

The Society believes that the result of this challenge will have far wider significance than this particular case; in light of this we have already submitted a statement to the Court and requested permission to submit further detailed evidence. The case will be heard on Friday 21 October.

The background to the Farm Terrace Allotments case

Farm Terrace Allotment is a statutory site dating back to 1896 and lies behind Watford Football Club’s football ground in the densely populated area of west Watford, which is made up of mainly terrace housing with small gardens. It currently covers 2.63 hectares or 128 plots. Originally it was at least 3 times this size. This category of allotment site is protected by legislation and councils who want to dispose of such land have to meet certain criteria that ensures plot-holders can continue to garden. All the statutory criteria must be met but disposal can still be granted if not all the policy criteria are met if “exceptional circumstances” apply.

In 2012 Watford Borough Council closed the site waiting list stating that the allotments were needed as part of a Health Campus development, which was to include possible hospital buildings, houses, flats and green space. At this point the allotments tenants attempted to negotiate with the council – where better for an allotment site than on a Health Campus?

However the council were not interested and in February 2013 applied to the Secretary of State to dispose of the site. The tenants formed a campaign group and began a social media campaign to draw the public’s attention to the situation and the threat to allotments in general.

In May 2013 the then Secretary of State Eric Pickles agreed to deregulate the allotment site, despite the fact that it was neither unnecessary or surplus to requirements (one of the policy criteria). Due to the campaigning efforts of the group, money raised by crowd-funding and the support of Deighton Pierce and Glynn, a firm of lawyers specialising in public law, an appeal was made and in August 2013 the High Court made an order that the decision be quashed because the Secretary of State had made an unjustified departure from policy.

In September 2013 Watford Council put in second application to close the site and in December 2013 the Secretary of State agreed to disposal, stating that his decision was for the greater good of the town. Once again the campaigners challenged his decision making and with the support of Deighton Pierce Glynn were granted a Judicial Review that was heard in July 2014. This decision was then quashed by the High Court in October 2014 on the grounds that the council had failed to give the Secretary of State sufficiently updated information for him to make a fully informed decision, and the plot-holders had a temporary reprieve until the decision in May of this year to dispose of the site.

The campaigners still need to raise money for their legal fight and you can donate via a crowdfunding site https://www.gofundme.com/save-farm-terrace (minimum £5 donation).