Abbots Leigh allotments continue to cause controversy

Roots plan on building around 300 plots on a 5 hectare area of land

Plans for around 300 allotment plots are continuing to cause controversy in a local community near Bristol.

Residents were engaged in a "stand-off" on 17 October, after Roots Allotments began to build fences around the area.

Police were called to the site off the A369 in Abbots Leigh, but decided that the dispute was a civil matter.

Roots Allotments is planning to create the plots on a 5 hectare site in North Somerset, just outside Bristol.

Co-founder of Roots Allotments Will Gay said: "The site is accessible by public transport, bicycle and foot and we have released a Cycle-To-Grow scheme with 0% finance on electric bikes to aid in travel to the site in replacement of cars.

"We are working with legal and planning advisors to ensure we operate within the law.

"The law in the UK is that allotments do not require planning permission on existing farmland and it would be a sad day in the UK if planning was required to grow vegetables."

The Abbots Leigh site is just outside Bristol, across the Clifton Suspension Bridge

Previous proposals for 700 plots were refused by the parish council in August. In their objection, the council raised concerns over parking capacity and increased traffic to the area.

Chair of Abbots Leigh parish council Simon Talbot-Ponsonby said: "What we object to is that they are doing all they can to bypass planning processes and to develop many acres of allotments.

"The plans should go to the scrutiny of a full planning application."

• Plan for 700 allotments voted down by council

Roots already have allotments in Croydon, Stourbridge, Wolverhampton and Bath

The Forestry Commission England submitted an objection on the planning application which read: "There is a serious concern that in the absence of any proposals on access or parking at the site, that Roots, its employees and customers will use the access and car park at Leigh Woods, of which they have no legal right to do."

Clifton College also submitted an eight-page objection to the planning application, stating that an increase of parking on the verges surrounding the allotment site would impact the safety of users attempting to leave their sports ground, which is adjacent to the allotment site.

Roots Allotments have other sites in Croydon, Stourbridge, Wolverhampton and Bath. They are a subscription service which provides ready-to-plant beds, seeds, tools, compost and educational courses to teach people how to grow their own plants.

Follow BBC West on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [e-mail]