Codsall allotment holders angry at closure
Disgruntled allotment holders in Codsall have challenged the parish council's decision to close the site due to coronavirus.
The council took the decision to close the Watery Lane allotments to the public after the UK was placed in lockdown in March due to concerns about the disease spreading through people congregating and not maintaining social distancing, lack of hot water on site for hand washing and the disposal of waste and rubbish.
However, other sites in neighbouring towns remain open.
Martin Pickersgill, 61, who lives in Codsall and has had a plot at the Watery Lane site for five years, has asked the council to review their decision.
He said: "We were given no notice that they were going to close the site, I went one morning and there was a padlock on the gate.
"Some of the older people who use the site live in flats and don't have gardens, so the allotment would have been the place for them to get their daily exercise, their trapped in their homes.
"There are things that have been left there which we are unable to recover and plants rotting, we will lose the entire year now because what we would plant now we would pick in the autumn.
"There are a lot of concerned plot holders and this issue does matter to a lot of people."
There are 120 plots at the Watery Lane site which each cost £10 per annum and each plot is 75 sq ft in size.
The chairman of Codsall Parish Council, councillor Brian Holland, said: "The parish council have been criticised for closing the Watery Lane allotments in response to the coronavirus crisis. It is important that allotment holders understand and appreciate the reason for this action.
"There are in total some 120 plots on the Watery Lane site meaning that potentially well over 100 people could be on site at any one time.
"The parish council are also mindful of the fact that the majority of allotment holders are in the “at risk” over 70s group who are likely to be staying at home to self isolate in compliance with Government guidance.
"We all hope to see a swift end to this crisis but it will only happen if we all play our part in containing the spread of the virus."
