Allotments battle heads for court

WEST YORKSHIRE: A battle over Huddersfield allotments may have reached a conclusion – and could cost campaigners £ 90,000.

Campaigners won a judicial review in the High Court against Kirklees Council, which wanted to bulldoze their plots at Cemetery Road in Birkby to create school playing fields.

A DAVID and Goliath battle over beloved allotments in Huddersfield may have reached its conclusion – and it could cost campaigners £ 90,000.

Campaigners won a judicial review in the High Court against Kirklees Council, which wanted to bulldoze their plots at Cemetery Road in Birkby to create playing fields for a new £ 9m primary school.

The council took that decision to the Appeal Court and saw it overturned. Campaigners refused to back down and submitted their case to the Supreme Court in the hope that the council’s case would be quashed once and for all.

But three judges refused permission for it to be heard. They said the application “does not raise an arguable point of law of general public importance”.

Campaigners now face paying court costs, which earlier this year stood at £ 90,000 and may now be even higher.

Allotment holders were victorious last year when judge the Honourable Mr Justice Kerr ruled that land at Cemetery Road, which had been appropriated by the council for new school playing fields, was permanent allotments.

The council wants to take part of the allotments as part of its proposed £ 9.7m Brambles Primary Academy in nearby Clare Hill.

The council took Judge Kerr’s decision to the Court of Appeal, where Lord Justice Lewison, Lord Justice Peter Jackson and Lady Justice Asplin ruled that the council’s legal argument – that the allotments were temporary – was correct. They overturned the decision.

Campaigner Jonathan Adamson appealed that judgment to the Supreme Court but it was refused by senior judges Lords Kerr, Sales and Leggat.

Allotments group spokeswoman Debby Fulgoni said she and other allotment holders had already received notice from the council to quit their plots. They have been offered alternative plots elsewhere on the site.

But she said campaigners were still investigating other legal action. She said: “The allotments have been a life- saver for a lot of people. Many have had to shield during the Covid period but they have been able to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

“It keeps body and soul together. The response from the council has been very quick but we are still pursuing legal action. It’s not over. They should not be trying to bully us off.”

Senior councillor Graham Turner said he hoped the prolonged wrangle over the allotment land was now at an end.

He said: “I hope we can put our differences behind us. The allotment holders will be given new plots. I hope we can all move on. This is the end of it.”

Work on the new school, Brambles Primary Academy, is expected to get underway this month and open in 2021.

The allotments have been a life- saver for a lot of people. Allotments group spokeswoman Debby Fulgoni.