Action Briefing Feb 2006 - Mar 2006
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Billesley Lane Allotments: the plots thicken

A brief report on progress (or regress perhaps) at Billesley Lane Allotments, which after a long and rather dodgy planning battle has been split between the long-term tenant allotment-holders and their landlords the Moseley Golf Club.

The allotments have now been officially 'allittled'. A few days before Christmas, Billesley Lane Allotments Association held their Christmas celebration in the shed on the beautiful befrosted allotment site. This was also attended by Chris Crean and I, who gamely drank sherry and ate mince pies at 11 o'clock on a Sunday morning, while a few idiots swung sticks at little balls on the other side of the hedge (OK, maybe I am a little prejudiced here). On Christmas day, two thirds of the site was due to be handed over to Moseley Golf Club. To reinforce the change in status, on the 23rd January, the fence went up separating the two halves. The smaller half contains 23 tiny plots in its single acre.

It has emerged, since it has been too late to do anything about it, that allotmenters were lied to about the legal advice the council received during the planning battle.
A public inquiry had been held in 2002 into whether the Council could compulsorily purchase (CPO) the site - as they were attempting. This inquiry was won by the golf club. A subsequent Judicial Review ruled that this decision was flawed. However, the allotmenters were told that the Council’s legal advice had suggested a second CPO attempt would be unsuccessful. But in December 2005, an e-mail released under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the Council was in fact advised the opposite.

The e-mail, sent by Bryan Nott who was then a councillor for Moseley, said: "This falls far short of the pessimistic view I was expecting. Nothing suggests that it is not worth fighting on. I think it would have been difficult for a barrister to be more positive at this stage." Too late now, of course. The allotmenters now share tiny plots and there is even a waiting list, but they will have to relinquish the remainder of their land in 12 or so years. And when will the practice green appear? Or is the Golf Club secretly planning to maximise their assets by selling the land for housing? Watch that plot . . .

Karen Leach