UK: Allotment wars – public inquiry as one of Britain’s richest men seeks to ‘bulldoze’ gardens for apartments
The historic allotments once fed soldiers returning from war, but the Duke of Northumberland now wants that part of his land for apartments
By Amber Allott
MSN
Aug 2, 2023
Excerpt:
A wealthy Duke’s bid to replace hundred-year-old community garden allotments with dozens of new apartments on his London estate has been branded an attempt to “line” his “already deep pockets”.
In October 2021, Duke of Northumberland Ralph Percy lost an application to build 80 flats on part of his heritage-listed West London estate, after the council received more than 900 objections from locals. The plot of land in question is home to the Park Road allotments, which locals have used to grow fresh produce for the community for more than a hundred years.
But the Duke’s company, Northumberland Estates, maintains it needs the funding from the proposed new apartment block to bankroll repairs to Syon House – a 500-year-old estate which famously had scenes from Bridgerton shot there.
His appeal has this week gone to a public inquiry, with MPs, councillors, allotments-holders, and lawyers for Northumberland Estates all arguing their case, with the estate promising housing for people priced out of the market and new, likely smaller allotments on the land – while the Telegraph reports Isleworth councillor Salman Shaheen slammed the bid to “bulldoze” the plots as “an ill-conceived plan designed not to support a treasured historic asset, but to destroy one for private gain”.
