Redbridge Lane West Allotments is a small allotment site in East London, owned by the London Borough of Redbridge. We are a diverse and friendly community, and for many plot holders the allotments have been the centre of their lives for many years. Plot holders involve friends and family, including children and grandchildren, and for many the allotments have been a mainstay during the Covid pandemic. The site is host to a fantastic charity project, Sprout There!, which for many years has been doing invaluable therapeutic work with people with learning disabilities. The allotments are on a natural meadow, a home to diverse and threatened wildlife.

The energy infrastructure company Cadent owns a gas works next to our site, and wants to take over the allotments for two years to do ‘upgrade’ work. They propose to ‘store’ our sheds and equipment and strip the entire site, thus ruining the hard work that plot holders have put in to cultivating their plots over many years. Part of their proposals include creating a car park for their contractors, as well as putting heavy and damaging equipment on site, effectively destroying our plots and the biodiverse habitat.

We call on Redbridge Borough Council to reject Cadent’s plans to seize our allotments to undertake their work.