The Gardener's Arms
Home of Pershore Allotment Association
The current position
In November 2008, all allotment holders were contacted by Pershore Town Council inviting them to attend an open meeting to discuss the flood defence proposals outlined by the Environment Agency. The members of the Association attended with the hope of confirming siting and time scales, and securing support from the PTC for allotment holders who would be disrupted during these works. At the time of this meeting, however, no details on siting had been confirmed. It was anticipated that works would start in July 2009, and would take between one and two years to complete. The issue of assistance and compensation for allotment holders was raised, and received a mixed reaction dependent upon the PTC representative involved in the conversation.
A further meeting was held in December 2008 with the Environment Agency. Rob Nillar, Chief Relations Officer, was present at this meeting and listened courteously to all points and concerns raised by the PAA. At that point in time, they were still unable to confirm any details such as location of the flood defences, exactly how much land would be taken up, and which allotments would be affected.
Almost half a million pounds of funding for the Pershore flood defences was granted to the Environment Agency in January 2009, whereupon they confirmed they still anticipated work commencing in July 2009. Again, however, they still did not have a definite location for the defences.
The latest communication from Rob Nillar to the PAA (January 2009) has confirmed that they are in communication with the landlords of the allotment site, Pershore Town Council, and if we wish to obtain any further information we should direct all of our comments, queries and concerns to them as our landlords.
