Bishops Castle biomass upset for allotment users

Gardeners who use land next to a proposed site for a £5 million biomass burner in Bishops Castle have said today the plant would not be compatible with their allotments.

It comes after Shropshire Council's cabinet provisionally accepted a proposal to build the biomass plant on the site during a confidential discussion at a meeting last Tuesday.

The decision left residents stunned. They hoped the site would be transformed into a 2.5 acre community farm for use by local people.

Now a new site must be found for the farm although the allotments are expected to be retained as part of the biomass development. Previously there were fears the allotment holders could lose their plots when the land was sold.

Sarah Dixon, chairman of the Bishops Castle Allotment Holders Society, said they were under the impression they could continue to lease their land.

She added: "This land was up for sale as part of the whole site. But what could we do? We couldn't go anywhere.

"But I don't think the biomass would be compatible with allotments.

"The biomass will be right next to us."

The allotment holders are midway through a seven-year lease of the plots from Shropshire Council.