Town council votes through Aylesbury allotment eviction notice despite strong opposition

Aylesbury Town Council has voted through plans to transform allotments in the town into a burial site.

Tring Road Allotments will be used as an extension of the cemetery neighbouring the area, meaning current allotment holders will be evicted.

On 27 July, a strong majority of Aylesbury’s town councillors voted through the plans, forcing people using the site out by the end of 2024.

In total, 18 of 25 councillors voted through the motion, with only Councillor Mark Winn voting against it.

When notices were sent to every member of the Tring Road Allotments group in early July, a petition was set up in protest.

Since then the petition, which can be viewed online here, has been signed by over 2,700 people, while protests were held by allotment members in Aylesbury town centre ahead of the council’s vote.

Some members fear for the mental health of other users at the site, and say elderly members rely on the gardening meetups for companionship.

However, Aylesbury Town Council has argued that there is an ‘urgent’ need for more tombstone space in Aylesbury and that demand has been increasing steadily. And it believes without the extension, Tring Road Cemetery will have to close prematurely.

Previously, the town council has stated the eviction decision “was not taken lightly”.

Aylesbury Town Council declined to comment further on a meeting attended by residents and officials, where the council was given a copy of the Deeds from the Land Registry Office.

In documentation presented to council officials at a meeting on Thursday, 13 July, a covenant states that the area can be used for allotments only.

Arden Mitchell, who started the petition to oppose the plans, said: “We consider this fight far from over.”

On Sunday (23 July) peaceful protesters brought along produce from the allotments and discussed the notice with people in the town centre.

One demonstrator stated she was “overwhelmed” with the amount of support she and her fellow gardeners received from the Aylesbury community.

But whilst demonstrators acknowledge there are six other allotments in the town which the town council rents out to residents, they are concerned as to how some people would cope with buying gardening space elsewhere, due to their age.

Tthe petition also highlights the community nature of the group and the friendships members have forged over 40 years.

Arden, a retired psychiatric nurse, added: “For many this is where we come each day to see the people we consider our second family - Our Allotment Family. For others it is the only regular daily social contact they have in their lives.”

Aylesbury Town Council has also highlighted that it purchased the land in 1934 to use as a cemetery, flagging the growing population of Aylesbury and the likely further expansion of the town and its surrounding areas as reasons why there is a need for cemetery space.

Members can use the allotments for another 16 months, and free of charged in 2024, before they are evicted.