Allotment holders at historic Bath site handed eviction notice
Combe Down Allotments is set to close this time next year
Allotment holders at a site in Bath, that has existed for more than a century, will have to leave by this time next year after the landlord served an eviction notice on the council.
The site in Combe Down features 64 allotments which have been used since 1894, with Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) Council first revealing they had been served an eviction notice two weeks ago (10th October).
A spokesperson for the council says they have now passed on that notice to the allotment holders.
Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for Neighbourhoods, said: “We are extremely disappointed to have to send a notice to quit to our allotment holders. This is not the outcome the council desires. Our preferred option is the purchase of the site which we will continue to work towards in our negotiations with the landowner.”
Letters have been sent to each allotment holder saying that, assuming the council does not manage to purchase the site, their lease will end on 30th November 2025. Allotment holders are therefore being asked to leave by 31st October 2025, so the council have enough time to return the land to a state required by the land owner.
Cllr Ball said the council has requested meetings with the landowner to discuss the situation several times, but so far every request has been declined by their solicitor.
Following a successful nomination by a group of residents the council has added the site to its list of Assets of Community Value. The application - from the Unincorporated Friends of Combe Down Allotments - was assessed by the council and found to meet or exceed all criteria needed to be added to the list.
Although the owner of an Asset of Community Value (ACV) is free to sell to any buyer of their choice, they cannot sell it without first notifying the council of their intentions.
Once that happens a six week period then begins in which community interest groups or any other buyers can submit a written request to the council to be treated as a potential bidder.
The council must then pass that request onto the landowner, at which point a further six month period begins, allowing any community group time to assemble a bid.