A growing waiting list for allotment space forces town to issue appeal for land.

A TOWN council is appealing to land and business owners to help end its long search for a new allotment site to ease the public’s growing demand for plots.

Sudbury Town Council has recently suffered two set backs in its hunt for new land to meet demands.

Hopes of using spare land in nearby Great Cornard were dashed when the parish council rebuffed the idea and negotiations over a parcel of land near Middleton broke down in the final stages.

Town clerk Sue Brotherwood said: “We have been looking for new allotment land for quite some time but the search has been very frustrating. We finally thought we had found somewhere with the plot of land in Middleton, but it wasn’t to be, so the search goes on.”

The town currently has two allotment sites, one off Newton Road and another in Ballingdon Street, consisting of 36 plots.

With more than 80 people on a growing waiting list the council decided to make the appeal as the need for new sites became urgent.

“Ideally, we would like a plot of land in a field, but could use some spare industrial land or unused business space to set up a temporary structure and make allotment plots with giant grow bags,” said Mrs Brotherwood. “This has been done in other towns and it works very well as an alternative to traditional allotment sites.”

She said that a lack of spare land in Sudbury combined with allotment holders rarely giving up their plots unless they become too ill meant those on the waiting list would continue to suffer long waits.

“This is becoming a serious issue. We urge anyone with spare land to contact us so we can talk about leasing it from them,” she added.

Anyone who has spare land to offer should contact Mrs Brotherwood on 01787 372331.