Police were called to a village on the edge of Bristol today (Thursday) following claims of assault, as residents tried to stop work to turn a field into a mega-allotment. Representatives from Roots Allotments claim they were shoved out of the way as some residents of Abbots Leigh blocked work to lift a shipping container into the field.
Angry villagers want Roots, which plans to create a 700-plot allotment business in a field next to the entrance to Leigh Woods on the edge of Bristol, to wait until the local council have said it is allowed to create the new allotment site before work begins.
It’s the second time this week that there has been a stand-off between local residents and the Roots Allotments workers. Bristol Live reported that on Monday, work to create a new access to the field, on the corner of the main A369 road and the lane up to Leigh Woods car park, was stopped by one resident who stood in the way.
Read more: Monday - Police called to allotment stand-off on edge of Bristol as work begins on project
This morning, Thursday April 20, a large group of residents parked their cars and blocked up all the access points to the field after Roots brought a shipping container and tried to place it in the field. On Wednesday, a tipper truck deposited several loads of soil on the field, which Roots wants to use to create a ‘no-dig’ allotment project for up to 700 people.
Roots said it already has 400 people signed up for a plot, and the work the team are carrying out now does not require council permission. Local residents say the entire project needs to go through the planning process so that the impact on the environment and traffic can be properly assessed - and until then, they shouldn’t start preparing the ground in advance.
Amid heated exchanges today, one of the founders of the Roots business alleged he was assaulted. “We’re just trying to install a fence and unload a shipping container,” he told Bristol Live.
“Unfortunately all the residents have blocked every access to the site so we tried to lift the container over a fence, near the site. When trying to lift that container over the fence, one of the residents ran up to try and stop us and I asked them stand back from a safe distance, just to make sure that the whole situation was safe, and that resident then decided to shove me twice. It’s a real shame it’s come to this,” he added.
“We’ve got 400 people already signed up for this site, and we’re just doing some agricultural works to set up the site. What we’re doing is food production, so it’s all perfectly legal as well,” he said. “We’re just trying to let people grow their own food. 93 per cent of our customers report a well-being boost and Bristol and the rest of the country has got a loneliness epidemic - one in three adults is lonely and there’s other statistics that are even worse, so we’re just trying to prove that businesses can both make money and do good, and that’s what we’re really trying to do here on this site,” he added.
Roots has asked North Somerset Council if it requires planning permission for what the firm intend to create on the field, and in the meantime asked for a certificate of lawful use to start the process of creating the 700 plots and an 80-space car park.
When North Somerset Council missed two deadlines to make a decision on that certificate, Roots went ahead this week without it and began work - much to the fury of local residents.
They say the field is a wildlife-rich grass meadow that is not the best location for such a large-scale project. Residents have also highlighted the scale of the scheme, which would see 700 plots and communal buildings created, and say that would need a much bigger car park than one for 80 spaces, given people would be coming from all across Bristol to a village with limited bus services.
This morning residents argued with Roots and their representatives, telling them that they should wait to hear if North Somerset Council approve the start of the works or tell them they need to apply for full planning permission for such a project.
One resident, Jenny Lacey, said: “Our view is completely simple - we’re waiting for North Somerset Council to make a decision. As soon as they’ve made their decision, if it’s in favour of Roots, then Roots can do their work.
Standing on the other side of the barbed wire fence, a spokesperson for Roots told residents: “I need to make it clear to all of you that what’s happening here is perfectly acceptable under the rules. If you can’t get satisfaction from the legal process, it’s a real shame that you have to resort to physical assault,” he said.
Police attended the scene for much of the morning. Some residents living on Ashgrove Avenue said their road was a private one, and they successfully persuaded the lorry carrying the shipping container to leave.
Read more on the Roots Allotments project
- April 2022 - New Bristol allotments with a twist as Roots expands to city
- Nov 2022 - Bristol's first commercial allotment business to open near Leigh Woods
- Nov 2022 - Allotment plan is 'blot on the landscape' says village near Bristol
- March 2023 - Villagers fight plans for 700 plot allotment site in Bristol-North Somerset green belt
