Police were called after an attempt to create a large allotment project on the edge of Bristol was held up by angry neighbours. A stand-off ensued on the entrance lane to Leigh Woods, where a firm setting up a new model of commercial allotments are trying to begin work.
Roots Allotments want to turn a field next to the main A369 road in Abbots Leigh into 700 allotment plots and rent them out to people from across Bristol and North Somerset, but local residents in the village are battling to stop them, saying they should need planning permission because of the impact of the project.
A group of young entrepreneurs set up Roots after the Covid lockdown and have been running a smaller site on the edge of Bath for a couple of years. Bristol Live revealed their plans to find a Bristol site a year ago in April 2022, but attempts to get the project off the ground on the large field at the entrance to Leigh Woods have been so far frustrated.
Read next: New Bristol allotments with a twist as Roots expands to city
Roots told Bristol Live last year that demand was high for their idea of providing an enhanced allotments experience, with extra support, tools and seeds - for a higher price than the rent at one of the many council or society allotments around Bristol. Roots said they have already had many of the 700 plots they plan to create booked up by would-be growers, so were keen to get started and open the allotment this spring.
The company said they don’t think they need planning permission, given they are simply dividing up an agricultural field into 700 plots for agriculture, and they applied for a certificate of lawful use to North Somerset Council months ago. They said the council had a deadline to respond to its application on March 23, and late on that day the council asked for an extension. They agreed a two-week extension, which the council then also missed.
They said they were "shocked to receive such a backlash". “After taking legal advice, we are undertaking the necessary works to open the site as they fall well within permitted development rights for agriculture,” said a spokesperson for Roots Allotments.
That meant workers arrived on the site on Monday morning and began trying to cut through the fence to create an entrance track onto the lane which connects the Leigh Woods car park to the main road in Abbots Leigh. The land is owned by the Wills Family Trust, and has been leased by them to Roots.
When that work began, some local residents in Abbots Leigh attended and attempted to stand in the way of that work, saying that the digger would be removing trees that have protection orders. The police were called but decided it was a civil matter, and no action was taken.
Local residents in Abbots Leigh, the parish council and North Somerset MP Dr Liam Fox are continuing to press for the scheme to be subject to a full planning application. They say the proposals should be properly scrutinised through the planning process, and have complained to North Somerset Council about the project starting already.
They say they think it needs planning permission because even though it’s turning a field into effectively tiny fields, it will require a car park, other buildings and would increase traffic and vehicles using that turning into Leigh Woods, especially as the people renting the 700 allotment plots are likely to come from all over Bristol, arrive by car and are likely to be visiting at similar times.
Roots Allotments are proposing to create a car park for 80 vehicles, which local residents said would not be big enough. They have previously said the scheme is on an ‘industrial scale’ and would bring additional traffic and disruption to the area.
They also say the allotments would impact on the openness of the green belt and affect the ‘precious’ ecosystem. The land also borders the Leigh Woods National Nature Reserve and site of special scientific interest (SSSI) which villagers claim is an important breeding site for birds and several species of endangered bat and butterflies.
North Somerset Council confirmed they had not yet made a decision about Roots Allotments’ application.
A spokesperson for the council said: “We have received formal requests from the landowner seeking to establish whether planning permission is required to set up allotments on land off Abbots Leigh Road. This has raised matters of legal interpretation, which we are investigating.
“Should the use of allotments start before the applications are decided, it would be at the owner’s own risk and we would treat this in the same way as any other alleged breach of planning control in accordance with our normal procedures,” she added.
What do Roots Allotments say?
The allotment plan is the brainchild of brothers William and Joshua Gay and friends Ed Morrison and Christian Samuel. The site would offer a range of ready to plant ‘no-dig patches’, as well as organically sourced seeds and plug plants, tools, water, a free personal trowel, and an on-site, full-time patch manager to give expert help and advice.
They defended the idea of the project at that location, and said they were passionate about getting as many people as possible to have access to somewhere to grow their own food. “We passionately believe that growing is for everyone and we are dedicated to opening up more private land to local people to grow their own food, as well as increase health, happiness and food security.
“The land has been used to graze cattle and grow mixed crops and is classified as modified grassland with a primary function that is agricultural use. Allotments and food production are defined within horticulture which fit into the legal definition of agriculture.
“As part of our plans for creating allotments on the site, we wanted to ensure that we had a positive effect on the location's biodiversity. We consulted local ecologists to understand the area and any wildlife that may be present and how we can do positive things to boost biodiversity.
"The benefits include: A biodiversity net gain of 25 per cent for terrestrial and 100 per cent for linear habitats with our ecologically sensitive management plans; Planting more than 1,800 meters of native British hedgerow, which once existed through this historic site (50 per cent of British native hedgerows have been lost since 1950s); introducing more shrubs and greater biodiversity of native flora to 20 per cent of the site; establishing even more native woodland at the bottom of our site which borders Leigh Woods,” they added.
“We are also working hard to protect and foster wildlife on the land. The closest record of bats roosting is 250m-475m from the site. We are going to be putting up bat boxes in our native woodland area to create further habitats for them and we will be making sure there are piles of cow manure to increase feeding zones for horseshoe bats.
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
“The closest recorded habitat of greater crested newts is 1.9km away. We want to make a natural pond on our site to further link up the habitat opportunities for them. Hedgehogs have been recorded 300m from the site and we will be implementing hedgehog homes on our mixed wildflower and fruit/nut orchard to provide them with more places to live and forage. We will be adding wild beehives to encourage more native bees to the site and provide more habitats,” they said.
“If the UK is going to find a progressive way forward to create more spaces for food growing, then there must be more acceptance of growing projects on greenbelt land. A majority of greenbelt land has been used for food production since time began and it shocks us to receive such a backlash from some local residents who simply don’t want a chemical-free progressive allotment site opening nearby, and who unfortunately do not consider the people of Bristol as part of their local area, despite living only 1.3 miles from Bristol.
“What is going to happen to our country’s food security and its proud horticultural heritage if allotment sites continue to shut at a rate of six per cent a year? People will continue to lose access to spaces to grow, connect with one another and re-learn ancestral skills that have been stolen from us by globalised food chains.
“We need to be taking steps forward into a progressive future rather than clinging onto old ways that paralyse us and farmers from diversifying, perpetuating a state of stasis and hopelessness within the agricultural sector,” they added.
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