Council agrees to clear pile of rubbish at allotments

RUBBISH piled up at allotments in Henley is to be cleared by the town council.

Large amount of timber, old plastic chairs and other waste has accumulated at the Watermans allotments off Reading Road.

The council, which is responsible for the site and the Greencroft allotments in Matson Drive, has received complaints about the mess. A spokeswoman said: “In the past, plot holders have gathered unwanted timber from their plots and held bonfires.

“However, this has not happened for some time so the timber has accumulated. Alongside this, unauthorised waste has been added.

“It is understood to be plot holders dumping the goods rather than it being external fly-tippers. The Henley Allotments Association runs the allotments day to day and there was a fantastic volunteer manager in place.

“Unfortunately, he recently left Henley and the interim manager has had some health issues and no alternative volunteer has come forward so the mess has accumulated.”

She said Councillor David Eggleton had removed a lot of the waste and the parks team planned to hire a skip to clear the rest. Better signage would be put up to prevent the same thing happening in the future.

Kellie Hinton, who chairs the council’s recreation and amenities committee, said she was sure the allotments association, which has more than 200 members, would be prioritising a management strategy for the site.