January 6, 2016 3.33 pm This story is over 98 months old

New allotment sites proposed as council moves to sell Ermine plots

Allotments: Two possible new sites for allotments in Lincoln have been revealed, as the city council pushes ahead with the sale of land used for community gardening on the Ermine estate.
The Ermine allotments site on Riseholme Road was sold for housing. Photo: Google Maps

Two possible new sites for allotments in Lincoln have been revealed, as the city council pushes ahead with the sale of land used for community gardening on the Ermine estate.

City of Lincoln Council runs 18 allotment sites throughout the city and carried out a review into their use in 2015.

The Ermine allotments on Riseholme Road have 21 plots, but only one of them is currently in use, meaning that the rest of the site has deteriorated.

The council estimates that it would take £30,000 to bring the allotments back to a useable condition for residents.

However, as there is no waiting list, nor evidence of long term demand for this site, the council will ask the government for permission to free up the land for housing.

Money raised from the sale of new homes on the land would be re-invested into existing allotments in Lincoln.

A condition of the authority’s bid is that they must identify suitable alternative sites for gardening.

Potential sites suggested by the council include land on Melbourne Road in Birchwood, the former Wragby Road Allotment site, and an as yet unidentified area of land in the “south-west quadrant” area of the city.

The council’s Executive will be asked to find a replacement site when it meets at City Hall on Monday, January 11.