New developments in Wokingham borough will see the introduction of “sufficient” new allotments.
At last month’s full council meeting, Peter Wheat asked how many new houses were built, and how many new allotments were provided in 2024, and does this land area of allotments meet Wokingham Borough Council’s policy commitment under its open space policy for allotments?
Cllr Stephen Conway, the leader of the council, said: “Housing completions are monitored for April 1 to March 31, and not for calendar years.
“For the last complete year up to the end of March 2024, there were 782 dwellings completed.
“Assuming an average of 2.4 people per dwelling this would require just under 1 hectare of new allotments at our current standard.
“In the same period, we are delivering two allotment sites, one at Hayes Drive in Shinfield and the other at Penny Row in North Wokingham, with a total area of 0.703 hectares.
“Whilst this is slightly below our current policy standard it is well above the rate promoted by the National Allotment Society.
“The delivery of new allotment sites does not always exactly mirror the delivery of new dwellings, and in some years we will provide less than the standard 0.52ha/1,000 population. “n others we will be above this level.
“However, critically, all of the allocated Strategic Development Locations (SDL) will provide sufficient new allotment sites to meet our current policy standard, except for the south of the M4 SDL.
“There is, in that SD, a small shortfall, where a large part of the site was approved at appeal without securing the allotment provision, and the Parish Council has decided they already have sufficient allotment provision.”
