“It was interesting to see in the Watford Observer recently that Watford Borough Council had requested planning permission from Hertsmere Council to build a replacement allotment site for Farm Terrace allotments. This application is ahead of the Government making a third decision on whether to close the allotments after having failed on two previous occasions. This statement may puzzle some Watford residents on a number of fronts as to why the Council have had to request planning permission from a different local authority. Unfortunately, the absurdness of this two and a half-year battle is that the replacement site is outside of Watford which has always been one of the major issues that we have fought our case on. Government guidelines state that if an allotment site is closed an alternative should be provided within ¾ of a mile which of course you would think is fair and logical. Unfortunately, Watford Council didn’t think so and have requested to relocate Farm Terrace over two miles from West Watford into Hertsmere.
For those who have shown a keen interest in our fight to save Farm Terrace I would like to draw attention to one fact from the Watford Health Campus Board meeting notes of March 2012 where Watford Council officials were in attendance (these notes are publicly available from West Herts Hospital Trust). The meeting notes discussed at the time where Farm Terrace allotments could possibly be moved to if it was decided to include them in the Health Campus Scheme. Three choices were discussed, one of which is the current proposal by the Council to move them to the very back of Paddock Road in Oxhey and onto Hertsmere Council land. It was noted, and I quote from the meeting notes – “in terms of thinking of allotment relocation options – 2. Paddock Road – lots of space but potentially too far away”.
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