Petition Launched To Save Southfields Allotments |
|||
Permission being sought to develop site into children's nursery
A campaign has begun to attempt to save an allotments site in Southfields. The plots are next to the rifle range in Granville Road between Pulborough Road and the District Line tracks and have been used as allotments since the start of the last century. They are not council-owned and the freeholder now wants to redevelop the site into a children’s nursery. Previous attempts to develop the site included both the rifle range and the allotments but the current one is only proposing to build on the allotments. The Save Our Allotment SW18 group argues that allotments enjoy protection both under the local plan and the draft London plan. A petition has been launched which, at the time of writing, had obtained over 700 signatures. The opponents of the development of the site say that allotments are important to encourage biodiversity and there is a significant shortage in Wandsworth with only 450 Council allotments and a waiting list of over 1300 people who may not be granted one within ten years. The page promoting the petition states, “Preserving this green space will safeguard its role as a green corridor for wildlife that includes bats, a rare moth and hives of honeybees. All this will be lost if the land is developed and built on. “Green spaces are beneficial in the fight against climate change. Should this development go ahead local air pollution will worsen. It will also lead to increased traffic congestion and parking difficulties in the already busy surrounding streets.”
April 9, 2021 |