HARD-CORE campaigners protesting against the redevelopment of the former Leys Road allotments in Blackpool should think about the effects of their actions on other gardeners.

That's the verdict of town hall chiefs following the attempts of Leys Road Action Group last week to stop bulldozers levelling the 22-acre former allotment and horticultural nursery in preparation for housing.

They say the majority of the allotment holders voted in favour of being relocated to a far superior showpiece in Moor Park Avenue in October, 1997, but they have had to wait patiently while a small minority hold up the plans.

The anti-housing campaigners have applied for the Moor Park Avenue site to be made a "town green," preventing the new allotment development until a decision is made by the House of Lords.

Said Blackpool's leisure chairman Roy Lewis: "We are trying to be fair all round. Our plans will benefit the allotment holders of Blackpool by providing a new site with security of tenure which wasn't the case at Leys Road.

"They will also benefit ratepayers by providing additional housing and generating income which can be used for the benefit of everyone in Blackpool."

The council could not allow itself to be held to ransom by a tiny percentage of people attempting to illegally occupy a piece of land they were not entitled to, he added.

Mervyn Colton, chairman of Blackpool Federation of Allotments Associations, said: "It's true there was a clear majority of Leys Road allotment holders who voted to accept the Moor Park site. They had 19 replies, of which 11 were in favour, five against and three abstentions."

But speaking personally he opposed the loss of open space at Leys Road, believing it should be made a managed wildlife site: "We have so little open space available within the urban area."

The Leys Road site will now be converted into a wildflower meadow until the land is sold for housing. A £5m bid from Bellways Homes to build 137 luxury homes was withdrawn in April.

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