Angry Darwen allotment holders in dispute with council over vehicle access to their plots

Angry gardeners in Darwen claim the council has started to dig up a vehicle access road to their plots to create a parking spot for a nearby resident, leaving disabled allotment holders unable to access the site.

However, Darwen councillor, Cllr Dave Smith, said there never was a permanent access road to the Harwood Street garden plots, and there is plenty of parking on the pavement.

One allotment holder said: "There are disabled people on that site that only took the allotments and garden plots because there was vehicle access.

"There's a 79-year-old who needs the road access, he won't be able to get to his plot if it's gone.

"There's also a bloke who had a stroke and his allotment is his only bit of freedom and again he can't access it without a vehicle."

Images taken on Wednesday last week show how the council had begun digging up the path, taking away fences and leaving mounds of soil and gravel in its place.

The allotment holder went on to say: "There used to be a car parking space there years ago but the council used tax payers money to bulldoze the whole site and put a fence and gate there in order to create an access road and a car park.

"And now they're going to use more tax payers money to bulldoze the car park and vehicle access road and turn it back into a parking space for a nearby resident.

"The fence and gates have been ruined, just so one man can have a parking spot and a bit of a garden outside his house.

"There's already space that the resident can use, so why not use it.

"They also moved and mixed a few tonnes of soil from my plot onto derelict land and now it's unusable."

The site holder claims that in their allotment plot contracts it doesn't mention anything about there being no access road for vehicles, and says if it was the case that there was never an official road, then it should've been communicated to people before they committed and signed their plots.

Cllr Smith said: "There's been a bit of a dispute and some miscommunication.

"There never was a vehicle access road there in the first place. It was originally a temporary road put in place for some people who were doing their plots up.

"And what the allotment holders think is a car park is not. It was never a permanent feature.

"Some of the plot holders say they have proof that the car park and road was permanent but I have never seen this proof.

"I will have to get hold of one of the council officers concerned with this and look into seeing if they can provide parking there.

"But there are car parking spaces on the roads. I understand that there are some disabled people who may need access but by parking on the road they will only have to walk an extra 50m or so."