Northfields Campaigners' Step Up Fight Over Allotments

New petition launched to try and stop land from being developed

Northfields Allotmentholders Petition

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A second petition has been launched over plans to build on Northfields allotments.

Earlier this year, plotholders were informed by their landlord, Pathways, that it intends to make use of five per cent of the site for a development of 15 social housing units and townhouses to sell on the open market.

Opposition has been fierce and local Labour Councillors set up their own petition page calling on 'the plans to be reconsidered and community asset to be protected'.

Now a new petition has been set up by plotholders themselves. It went live on 31st December 2016 and received 1000 signatures in a week.

Plotholders are particularly concerned about any further loss of green space since the original allotments were much larger, with land on both sides of Northfield Avenue. Around thirty years ago the land to the west of Northfields Avenue was compulsorily purchased and built on and fears have been raised that this could happen again. 

Christina Fox, chairman of the Ealing Dean Allotment Society, said: 'The fact that more than one thousand people have already signed our petition is real evidence of the strength of feeling that exists against the Pathways plans which would see more of this historic site lost to housing.

 "This isn’t a case of a handful of disgruntled plotholders. It is clear that the majority of local residents strongly oppose any further development of Northfields Allotments and the resultant loss of green space. What’s more, it isn’t just those who live beside the allotments. We have been particularly heartened by the encouragement we have had from across Ealing, the wider West London area and the UK as a whole. We’ve received many messages of support from former Ealing residents and those with friends and family here who have fond memories or the site. 

"We’d like to thank everybody who has signed the petition to date. We will continue to collect signatures over the coming months ahead of delivering the petition to Ealing's planning department once Pathways submit their application for the development.''

Pathways scaled down their original proposals and have sought to reassure allotment holders and local residents.

It's expected an application will go to Ealing Council in May this year.

 

11th January 2017

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