Council set to spend £550,000 creating allotment space in Watford

Watford Borough Council says "demand currently outstrips supply" with 233 people waiting for a plot in October 2021.

Virtually all of the allotment space in the town is in use with people waiting around a year on average although it varies from site to site.

In a bid to tackle the issue, the council has budgeted £550,000 up until 2025 to spend on creating new allotment space.

The council says there is some land available next to existing allotment sites but would require "significant" cost to bring up to standard. Around £50,000 is set to be spent for the 2022/23 financial year assessing sites, carrying out consultations and developing a masterplan.

Farm Terrace Allotments in Watford after it closed

Today's demand is in contrast to "a few years ago" after Cllr Tim Williams, who is a cabinet member for parks and allotments, said there were more than 240 plots available.

He added: "We have worked hard to get these filled and now, with the growing interest in allotments, it makes sense to invest in more plots for our residents to rent."

A major allotment site in Watford was lost in 2016 when the council won a third battle with campaigners who were trying to save Farm Terrace Allotments, by Watford General Hospital and Vicarage Road Stadium.

The High Court ruled the site could be developed leaving 128 gardeners "bitterly disappointed" and Farm Terrace shut.

Some of the Farm Terrace allotment holders have moved onto other sites while others gave up the hobby. Planning permission has since been granted to build homes and a multi-storey car park for the hospital on the land.

Farm Terrace campaigners outside the Royal Courts of Justice in 2014

Key campaigner Sara-Jane Trebar, who was elected as a Vicarage ward councillor for Labour last May, says the Liberal Democrat-run council "underestimated" the popularity of allotments.

She added: "It still hurts us that the allotments were taken from Farm Terrace. It would have made more sense to keep some and allow them to form part of a new development which we'd have been happy to do.

"The council has dug its own hole with these waiting lists. It seems ludicrous that the council now has to spend even more money to create allotments they got rid of after spending so much in court."

Derelict Farm Terrace Allotments

Cllr Trebar, who moved to a plot in Holywell after Farm Terrace closed, has welcomed the council's intention to boost allotment space in Watford but said she will be scrutinising where the new plots go.

She said: "They have to be where people can travel to them easily and they need to be put in the area of need which I believe to be in or near the town centre, where Farm Terrace was."

Watford mayor Peter Taylor has defended the loss of Farm Terrace saying it has freed up space for more than 60 affordable homes and a new car park of around 1,200 spaces for the hospital.

Mr Taylor added the new car park will free up further space from existing hospital car parks for new and "much needed" healthcare facilities with West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust hoping to secure major funding to rebuild.