The meadow at Abbots Leigh is under threat from Roots Allotments who plan to turn it into a huge commercial allotment site. Roots have already fenced off the meadow and their plan is to cover the meadow in 100s of lorry loads of cardboard and compost and build 100s of allotment plots.

The development would bring many problems including even more traffic on the A369, increased congestion on the small Forestry England road which leads to the Leigh Woods car park, loss of the meadow and destruction of protected flora and wildlife.

The meadow is a popular walking site in a Site of Special Scientific Interest buffer zone. It is a host to many protected species – including skylarks which nest in the grass, brown ringlet butterflies, 11 species of rare bats and rare fauna such as the green winged orchid.

The Monarchs Way, a historic and beautiful public footpath, runs through the meadow and local naturalists have been working for years towards joining up Leigh Woods, Leigh Court and Ashton Court to create a wildlife corridor. Under Roots’ plans the footpath will remain but will have a 1.8m fence running alongside, which has already cost a roe deer her life when she caught her leg high in the mesh fencing. Sadly, this beautiful meadow, one of our rarest habitats and of which 97% have been lost in Britain since World War II, will be gone, replaced by 100s of allotment plots, a car park, toilets and storage facilities, resulting in the wildlife habitats being destroyed. We have prepared a short film (6 minutes) summarising our experiences with Roots https://youtu.be/OKVLB-J4NU0?si=C7jGShcz-lJdf-JW

The fact is that Roots have no planning permission and their allotments do not qualify for agricultural permitted development rights. We are asking North Somerset Council to exercise all powers that they have to stop this development.

Please join us to stand up to save this meadow from this development. You can help and we need your support, thank you.

Please sign our petition and join our Facebook page, Roots Allotments uncovered.

Please see link below

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1408604483012967/

 

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