Gardeners have said a final farewell to their treasured allotment plots, after the land’s owner enforced an eviction notice on the 99-year-old site.
Linda Jubb, who has looked out on the Reservoir allotments, in Back Haigh Avenue, Rothwell, from her home for nearly 41 years, is one of more than a dozen plot holders forced to clear her share of the 18-plot site.
The plots, which have been leased by the council from private owners for nearly a century, were sold to a new private landowner in 2011 after Leeds City Council failed with a bid.
Linda, 61, who cultivated her site for eight years, told the YEP: “It’s sad and I feel upset, very upset, but I can’t change anything – I’ve just got to get on with it.
“I try not to look out at my garden now.”
The council offered Reservoir plot holders land on a new Rothwell site, two miles away by road, in Leadwell Lane. So far no-one evicted from Reservoir has taken up the offer.
Linda said: “It’s alright if you can drive but I can’t - it’s put me off completely.”
Last year the Reservoir landowner obtained a 12-month eviction notice to throw plot holders off the site by February 2.
Coun Stewart Golton (Lib Dem, Rothwell) said: “What’s most depressing is the lack of concern for the people who have maintained this land by the man who has bought it, which indicates that he has no respect for his neighbours.”
Both Rothwell’s 1.2 acre Reservoir site and 3.7 acre Victoria allotments were sold last year although the council managed to negotiate a deal to keep the larger Victoria site as allotments after residents set up a petition and fought to save them.
Coun Karen Bruce (Lab, Rothwell) said: “We are still working with the plot holders and got the best outcome we could.”
A council spokeswoman said plot holders have until the end of February to decide if they want an allotment plot at Leadwell Lane, which will become operational in March.
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