Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    the spending of £161,402 on the allotment improvement works identified in this report be approved, and that the remaining £400,000 be reallocated towards the Cheltenham High Street phase 2 improvements.

The Cabinet Member Finance introduced the report. She reported that in the budget outturn report considered by Council on 22nd July 2019, the council made an in-principle decision to reallocate £400,000 to the High Street fund to support delivery of phase 2 of the High Street improvement plans, subject to the production of this report.

In 2012, the council ring-fenced £600,000 from the proceeds of the Midwinter sale for the provision of new allotments to meet potential future demand. Monitoring of allotment use shows that demand for allotments has been met comfortably by proactive management by the Green Spaces Team, along with upgrading parts of the existing Midwinter site and bringing them back into active cultivation. This leads to the conclusion that since the decision in 2012, the demand for allotments has not led to the need for new allotments to be provided.

In 2014, Cabinet agreed to the spending of up to £50,000 of the ring-fenced money on improvements to the Midwinter allotment site, which included the installation of compost toilets and other site improvements. The total now stands at £561,402.

In the intervening years, Elmfield Playing Field has increased in prominence as a local community green space seeing investment through the ‘Big Local’ to create a valuable play space, with further projects planned in partnership with the local community. Given these circumstances, it is likely that either the Council nor the wider community will wish to develop all or part of the playing field as allotments in the foreseeable future.

The Midwinter site is the largest of the Council’s allotment sites, with over 200 plots, of which about 40 change hands each year. The waiting list is quite short, with a standard wait of six months or less, indicating that the number of plots available is broadly appropriate to meet current demand in the area. Therefore, it is proposed that a sum of £161,402 is allocated to undertake improvements to existing sites; namely path improvements at Midwinter, and modifications to water supplies at all Borough Council sites to ensure compliance with the Water Regulations Act, while £400,000 is reallocated to the Cheltenham High Street fund to support delivery of phase 2 improvement works.

RESOLVED THAT:

1. the spending of £161,402 on the allotment improvement works identified in this report be approved, and that the remaining £400,000 be reallocated towards the Cheltenham High Street phase 2 improvements.