Growing pains for gardeners

DISGRUNTLED allotment owners want compensation from Oldham Council after discovering the new patch of land they have been moved to “isn’t fit to grow a bean”.

Broadway Allotment Association was told to move from its much-loved gardens at the bottom end of Broadway in Failsworth, which has helped them grow award-winning produce over the years, to make way for a five-a-side football pitch.

Allotment owners say the new plot of land they have been given - only a few hundred yards from the old one - is a “disaster zone”. They say the ground is flooded and the soil poor and rocky.

The 17 tenants moved to the replacement site as part of a plan to redevelop the nearby Lancaster Club.

The council created the new allotment site and built greenhouses and sheds for the association to compensate them for the move in February.

But association, initially pleased, soon realised members couldn’t grow anything in the soil.

Secretary Ian Wade said Oldham Council did a great job on the surface, but the soil isn’t up to scratch. The association now wants to be compensated as it fears members may miss the limited planting window.

Elaine McLean, Oldham’s Council’s executive director for economy and skills, said: “Issues have been raised and we are working closely with the group to address them.”