LOCAL RESIDENTS LOSE THEIR FIGHT TO SAVE ALLOTMENTS FROM TEDDINGTON CEMETERY
Local residents have lost their fight to save the last remaining allotments in Teddington despite a massive petition signed by 1758 people – one of the biggest-ever petitions presented to Richmond council, it has been confirmed.
Richmond Council rejected calls to rethink plans to extend Teddington Cemetery onto the Shacklegate Lane allotments to meet urgent demand for more burial spaces.
The authority said the allotments would be offered an alternative space.
The petition stated: “The Shacklegate Lane allotment site was established over 120 years ago, and is the last remaining site in Teddington. The provision of allotments in Teddington was greatly reduced when the cemetery was last expanded.
“The London borough of Richmond has the best allotment provision (1,223 plots per 100k residents) in London, but despite this, demand for allotments across Richmond is huge, with all sites in the borough having long waiting lists of several years. With new land for this purpose being difficult to find, it does not make any sense to let an existing site go.
“Although we acknowledge that there is a need for further burial spaces, we believe that claiming back the Shacklegate Lane allotment site is just a short term solution to the longer term problem of burial space. We would like to see our council do what some other London boroughs have done and develop a long term and sustainable burial plan, including exploring options for creating burial space, that do not involve taking away allotment land.
“This once beautiful allotment site has become run down as the council has not rented plots (as they became vacant) to residents on the waiting list. This is in contrast to the councils declared allotment policy.”
Jane Cowling, presenting the petition, told the council’s Environment Committee that residents felt strongly the “needs of the living community, rather than the dead, should be given greater weight”.
She said if the council would not preserve all of the allotments, it should keep a meaningful portion while putting together a long-term strategy with better solutions to address the lack of burial space in the borough.
Candace Taylor, from the Shacklegate Lane Allotment Association, said none of the residents she had spoken to “wanted to see a larger cemetery and all the allotments lost”.
Matthew Eady, the council’s director of culture and leisure, said: “Very clearly, there’s lots of love for the allotments, and they’re also really important to the council as well, and we want to support those plot holders to find space within the borough.
“But we also equally need to ensure that there’s sufficient places for people to be able to be buried.”
The Teddington Society also opposed the council plan saying: “The allotments are one of few open spaces in Teddington and have been enjoyed for around 100 years.
“The Council wish to take over the site for burials and they estimate that that it will be used up in about 30 years.
“In recent years the Council has allowed the space to be run down by preventing new applicants from taking over the unused plots despite the fact the Council’s own data indicates that there is a much unmet demand for allotments – there is a long waiting list for plots (around 3,500 requests).
“The loss of the Shacklegate Lane site will mean that current holders may be offered alternative plots elsewhere, but they will need to use a car or up to 2 buses to reach. We feel the Council hasn’t considered the needs of plot holders and the value of having such a valuable local space nearby.”
The petition was started by Paul Cuff, 79, one of the allotment holders with his wife Joy, 81. He told Teddington Town that the allotment was a ‘lifeline’ to them provided vital fresh food for them all year round as well as keeping them fit.