'DEVASTATED' ELDERLY COUPLE WILL NOT BE RENEWING THEIR LEASE

ALLOTMENT holders have said they were blindsided after Croydon Council cut down four mature apple trees on a long-standing plot without the leaseholders' permission, citing a rule that they say was never properly communicated.

- By HARRISON GALLIVEN Local democracy reporter

ALLOTMENT holders have said they were blindsided after Croydon Council cut down four mature apple trees on a longstanding plot without the leaseholders' permission, citing a rule that they say was never properly communicated.

The apple trees at Pampisford Road allotments in Purley, one of six council-owned sites across the borough, were felled by the council in June, leaving only stumps and a damaged polytunnel behind.

The elderly couple who had cared for the plot for more than 15 years have since given it up, telling fellow plot holders they were "devastated" and that they will not renew their lease.

The trees were felled due to a rule around trees needing to be less than two metres tall.

Jo Booth, chair of the Croydon Federation of Allotment and Garden Societies (CFAGS), said that plot holders were never given the six months' notice required for new rules and that many were unaware the tree regulation even existed.

She noted that the felled apple trees are just some of the many trees over two metres tall across Pampisford Road allotments, which has about 120 plots.