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MP backs plan for new plots for evicted gardeners

Owen SennittNorfolk
News imageBen Goldsborough Ben Goldsborough is wearing a grey suit and standing outside a row of houses, one of which appears to be from the Tudor era.Ben Goldsborough
Ben Goldsborough MP said people in Wymondham had waited "long enough" for a new allotment

An MP has backed plans to find gardeners new allotments after a water company evicted them from a town's only plots.

More than 130 growers in Wymondham, Norfolk, had to abandon veg patches in Chapel Lane because landlord Anglian Water (AW) wanted to expand a nearby sewage works.

AW had said taking back the land had been the only viable option. Now plans have been lodged by the town council for up to 190 plots off Tuttles Lane.

Ben Goldsborough, Labour MP for South Norfolk, said the gardeners had been "waiting long enough" and it meant "much more than just growing vegetables".

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In a letter, he said the former Chapel Lane site was "much missed" and the proposed new allotments would help improve residents' physical and mental health, as well as providing produce for their dinner tables.

Goldsborough urged South Norfolk Council to approve the plans to "finally give local residents the green space they deserve".

Wymondham lost the allotments in 2025 after AW, which had leased the area to the council since 2006, took back the land.

At the time, AW said the improvements to the sewage works would help improve water quality in the River Tiffey.

News imageWymondham Allotment Association A group of people stand looking at a farmer's field.Wymondham Allotment Association
Allotment association members inspect the new plot in Wymondham with representatives from the Royal Horticultural Society

Kevin Stuart, chairman of Wymondham Allotment Association, said the eviction had been a "double-edged sword" as residents had wanted the sewage works to be improved, but losing their plots had been a "shock" that had come "out of the blue".

The new allotments could be created on a plot of farmland on the edge of the town.

On a recent visit with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), Stuart was told it was the "biggest allotment being created from scratch the RHS had been involved in".

News imageWymondham Town Council Allotment plots can be seen with various vegetables growing. There is a shed on the left.Wymondham Town Council
The site at Chapel Lane was taken back by Anglian Water, which had leased it to a local council

Lucy Nixon, the town's mayor, said losing the allotments had been a "big loss to the community".

She said the council had found the land after putting out an appeal to landowners and farmers.

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