TOWN councillors in Wellington have unanimously backed plans to enter talks about taking on a new allotments site at Longforth Farm.

Bloor Homes, which has built hundreds of properties in the area, was required to provide allotments as part of its development agreement and the district council – now Somerset West and Taunton Council – was going to manage the 1.6-acre site.

Now the district council has decided it no longer wants to run allotments and approached the town council to take ownership and manage them.

Cllr Andrew Govier, speaking at a town council meeting last week – held online for the first time since lockdown restrictions were imposed – said: “I am firmly of the opinion the town council should own the site – the management we can discuss at a later stage.”

He was keen that the council should negotiate hard with the developer to provide a viable allotments site, not just a plot of land which the council would have to pick up the costs of converting.

He added: “The developer will have a huge amount of plant which could knock the allotments into shape in very short space of time, as compared to us going in afterwards and trying to retro-fit it.”

Deputy Mayor Cllr Mark Lithgow endorsed Cllr Govier’s comments and added: “As the district council and a lot of other councils across the country are trying to go for zero carbon emissions, we ought to be doing our bit towards that. Allotments are exactly the right way to bring that forward.”

Cllr James Hunt said the site should be properly secured with sturdy fencing and gates, and hardcore at the entrance.

He was also concerned about the £22 annual charge for the allotments and felt the amount should be more cost-neutral. He said: “The town council has an obligation to provide allotments but that doesn’t mean we should provide them at a cost to all the other ratepayers in the town.”

Cllr Sean Pringle-Kosikowsky said it was ‘brilliant’ more allotments would become available but he would not want a situation where individuals tried to take on more than one plot. He added: “I would say it would be silly of us not to manage it for the uniformity of service.”