Work starts on Honiton allotments at Battishorne Way

Honiton Town Council has been working with a local landowner, Combe Estates, to provide long awaited and in high demand allotments on land at Battishorne Way.

Planning permission has been granted by East Devon District Council and a lease for the site has been signed. An application for funding to East Devon District Council was successful and the grant funding agreement was completed in January of this year.

This has enabled Honiton Town Council to move forward with the project and a local contractor Banks Construction have now commenced the works required.

It is anticipated that work will take approximately two months to complete and that the allotments will be ready during the course of the summer of 2021 for letting. Honiton Town Council has contacted those already on the waiting list.

Terry Darrant, Chair of the Honiton Town Council Allotment Working Group, said: "It's a great day to see our long planning for these allotments finally coming to fruition in the field from the seedlings of paperwork in the council chamber.

"I joined the Council in 2017 with a main objective to assist getting these allotments for the town.

"We have had a good working group and whilst we have suffered setbacks including funding issues, staff and councillors' turnarounds along with covid, we've progressed.

"After leaving the Council last year, I came back on the working group as a member of the public and whilst the lockdown postponed us by a year we are now on the home straight.

"Within a very short space of time, we will be able to offer this highly sought-after amenity to the people of Honiton."

Councillor Zarczynski, Chairman of Honiton Town Council added: "Honiton Town Council has been committed for a number of years to providing the residents of Honiton with allotments and I am delighted that this is now being achieved.

"Allotment gardening plays an essential role within a community and allows people to grow their own fruit and vegetables, whilst at the same time providing plot holders with a highly rewarding pastime."

At the Full Council meeting on the 26 April 2021, Members will be considering the management options for the allotments, by way of a dedicated Battishorne Way Allotment Association or internally.