Committee to stump up £20k for allotments soil test (From Bucks Free Press)

Committee to stump up £20k for allotments soil test

3:59pm Wednesday 26th September 2012 in News By Simon Farr

BASSETSBURY Lane Allotments continues to cling to survival after councillors agreed to stump up £20,000 for a final soil test.

The High Wycombe Town Committee will pay for the Detailed Quantitative Risk Assessment - a month after Wycombe District Council’s Cabinet refused to fund it and elected to close the site forever.

WDC Leader Cllr Alex Collingwood believed the test would be a ‘waste of money’ as the council already knew the allotments were contaminated and said he would rather use the money to investigate alternative plots.

Cabinet’s decision was ‘called in’ by Wycombe councillors, who were angry that the site's destiny had been taken out of their hands.

WDC’s Improvement and Review Commission upheld the call in and urged Cabinet to return the matter to the town committee – which Cabinet members agreed to do when they met earlier this month.

And last night, town committee members unanimously agreed to push ahead with the survey, which is a thorough test that should finally reveal the full extent of the contamination on the land.

The authority has been unable to gain insurance for the allotments since soil tests revealed traces of metal in some areas of the site.

It was closed indefinitely in February 2009 and campaigners have been fighting for its reinstatement ever since.