Fruit and veg growers celebrate saving plots

The fruit and vegetable growers saw off the threat of the Halnaker Gardens land being used for bungalows.

The members of Willowhale Allotments Association met their MP, Nick Gibb, for an informal celebration of their success and to thank him for his support.

The creator of the allotments, David Mitchell, was among them. It was in 1976 he and his late father-in-law decided to use part of a builders' tip to grow beans, onions and cabbages.

They quietly took over a 20sq ft plot in a corner of the land. It had become a success before his father-in-law died nine months later.

Mr Mitchell, 65, of Pryors Green, has been tending the land there ever since. He goes there five times a week.

'The site was used as a dumping ground. We were digging up lintels,' he explained. 'These allotments provide so much enjoyment. It's brilliant. People stop and talk to us while we are here. It's a real social centre.

'Putting seven bungalows for elderly people here would have been a bad idea. It would have segregated them from the rest of the community.'

Fellow Pryors Close resident Fred Nolson, 79, joined Mr Mitchell soon after he began his allotment.

'It would have been really disappointing if the allotments had disappeared,' he stated. 'It would not have been good to have them built upon.'

His crops include loganberries, beetroot and some flowers.

The allotments association joined with Willowhale Farm Residents' Association to fight the development proposals by Places for People.

The housing association last summer unveiled its plans for more homes on the estate around Pryors Lane built in 1971.

The scheme was met with widespread disapproval from its mixture of homeowners and tenants.

Places for People's south east regional manager David Hooper has told the residents' group new proposals for the estate were being drawn up.

'The revised plans will not include any development on the allotments as we will not be pursuing the possibility of building homes on that site,' he stated.

Residents' association chairman John Bass said more work was needed to guarantee the 12 allotments' future.

'We have to make sure the allotments are given over to a trust. That will ensure their future,' he said.

'We now need to preserve the wider estate and to ensure that our green spaces and garages are kept. This success with the allotments is just one battle in a longer war.'

Mr Gibb, the MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, said: 'I am delighted the threat to the allotments has been lifted. They give a lot of joy to a lot of people.

'This is probably the best organised and researched campaign I have become involved with. That's why they have been successful.

'We now need to find a way of putting the allotments in the hands of local people. That's why I support the idea of a trust for them.'