Council in Stowmarket rejects rent increase from Diocese

Stonham Parva Parish Council is "in dispute" with the Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich

A parish council fears allotments could become "unaffordable" after the Church of England put up the rent by nearly 25% compared to eight years ago.

Stonham Parva Parish Council is "in dispute" with the Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich, which is now charging the council £490 a year compared to £400 in 2015.

Parish clerk Wendy Brame said they had "tried to enter negotiations".

The diocese said it treated all of its tenants "fairly and equally".

The parish council has leased the land since 2015, where 29 plots are managed on behalf of the diocese by Clarke & Simpson.

Using a retail price index calculator, goods and services costing £400 in 2015 would cost nearer £590 if they had risen in line with inflation.

Individual allotment holders are currently charged £22 a year to hire their plots.

Ms Brame said: "Our concern is that within a matter of years, the rent is going to have doubled and that's just not affordable for people."

She said a response from the diocese to negotiate the overall rent had "not been forthcoming" and the church was "not interested" in their inquiry about buying the land.

The allotments in the village, which is on the A140 and is also known as Little Stonham, do not have their own supply of water

Ms Brame said the council and allotment holders would accept some price increase if the diocese agree to provide better infrastructure at the site, which is without its own water supply and has no car park or security measures.

"Our local Baptist Church agreed that we could run water from their chapel into our allotments," she said. "When we asked Clarke & Simpson permission, at no cost to them, they refused."

In response, a spokesperson for the diocese said: "The diocese may be prepared to grant temporary consent to lay the water pipe over ground but as the pipe would run through land let to another tenant, their consent would also be required."