Marjorie Simpson
Working Hard for Yarm
Yarm Allotments Under Threat
Yarm Allotments Under Threat - Car Parking on Allotment Land
Stockton Borough Council have printed a leaflet WITH AN ATTACHED VOTING SLIP to be delivered to all dwellings in Eaglescliffe and Yarm proposing three options for a Yarm Car Park.
Option 1 Land behind Yarm Medical Centre
Option 2 Worsall Road allotments
Option 3 Land to the east of the cemetery
Please Note:
- Option 1 is BRICKYARD ALLOTMENTS
- Option 3 is CEMETERY EXTENSION (PLUS ALLOTMENT LAND)
We believe that the Stockton Council leaflet may mislead our residents.
We also object to Eaglescliffe voting on the demise of our allotment land.
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Yarm Allotments
We have had allotments in Worsall Road since the late 18OOs. They were purchased by the Town Council as allotments for the allotment holders and this is the only open space that has not been allowed to be purchased by developers.
This area provides a recreational facility and supports its own community. The chairman of the Garden Association is Mr Bob Wegg who is an old Yarm person with ancestors in Yarm cemetery.
In 2007 the new Town Council were given instruction by their masters including our new Member of Parliament to release the allotments for a car park for the town. This was denied by our Ward Councillor Mrs Beaumont at a council meeting packed with Yarm residents. This denial was on the evening of the day she had met with the Director of Highways about the allotment car park proposal.
The following is an account of the demise of the allotment car park as witnessed by a member of the public who attended Yarm Town Council meeting in July 2009.
“Yarm Town Council may have been dragged finally into voting to support the allotment holders at its July 2009 meeting but it was certain members of Yarm Town Council who got Yarm into the parking survey mess in the first place.
All the proposed land for car parking is owned by Yarm Council to start with. At a meeting last year Yarm Town Councillors Hadlow, Whithill, Anderson and Craven (he has since quit) voted to allow access to the Yarm allotments by Stockton Borough Council officials effectively to ‘measure up’ triggering the whole debacle. As flawed as the parking survey was these councillors set off a chain of events previous councils avoided.
The Yarm Town Council meeting of 14th July 2009 witnessed one of the biggest humiliations of its Chairman Clr Hadlow ever seen thanks to local people power and the tenacity of Yarm Independent Clr Marjorie Simpson. At first Hadlow did not want to discuss the parking survey issue then suggested a special meeting be arranged in August – buried in mid summer holidays. Amid anger, laughter and derision, when presented with a petition to keep Yarm allotments and cemetery signed by over 1200 residents including our local MP DariTaylor, he relented.
Yarm Town Councillors said they had no prior knowledge of the parking survey or its content. It was then pointed out that a meeting took place in June between allotment holders, residents and senior officials of Stockton Council – one of whom stated Stockton had received the support of Yarm Town Council – via its Chairman none other than our Clr Hadlow. Why would a senior Stockton official say that? This has led to questions whether Clr Hadlow knew more about that survey than residents and his fellow councillors have been led to believe and about his honesty and integrity.
Hadlow’s chairmanship from the outset has seemed accident prone. Two councillors resigning their clerk and Finance Officer resigning, criticisms from their auditor, regularly laughed down at public meetings, and now the parking debacle, all in 2 years. He and his Ward Council masters Beaumont, Sherris and Earl; all put in writing how much they supported the parking proposals – what a humiliating retreat they’re now forced into. These councillors readiness to dispose of allotment and cemetery land after telling Yarm to vote blue, go green proves how untrustworthy they are with Yarm’s last open space.”
We were present at the meeting mentioned above and pointed out to Stockton Borough Council officers that what they had heard from the chairman Councillor Hadlow had not been discussed or agreed by the full council.
Yarm allotments are statutory allotments (allotments when purchased by the then parish council) and as such are protected by Government Office. In the case of Yarm the National Garden Association barrister was willing to work for the allotment holders free of charge and had every confidence of winning if this matter had reached the courts.
In the summer recess Clr Hadlow asked for a closed meeting of the council to take place. At first they wanted a closed meeting to change the decision of the council against paying for the chairman to attend a twinning visit to France. This was originally denied as this was not a visit where he would have had an official part to play on behalf of Yarm.
The other item on the agenda was his annoyance that the council had voted NO to the allotments being turned into a car park.
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