CONCERNS have been raised over Exmouth Town Council s decision to sell off allotment land at Hamilton Lane.

CONCERNS have been raised over Exmouth Town Council's decision to sell off allotment land at Hamilton Lane.

Members previously agreed two plots deemed 'inaccessible' to the main allotment land should be sold to a neighbouring home in Greenhill Avenue after the Exmouth and District Allotment Association highlighted the problem.

But this week, at a meeting of Exmouth Town Council's finance committee, some councillors said the land should not be sold in a time of recession when allotments were in short supply.

Exmouth's mayor, councillor Darryl Nicholas, said the council should draft in the expertise of the allotment association to explore the possibility of purchasing new allotment land within Exmouth with the council's �4,933 share of the sale.

The sale has been approved by the Secretary of State and the two allotment plots have been professionally valued at a total of �7,400.

Sale proceeds will be split with �2,467 going to the allotment association to pay for improvements on the Hamilton Lane and Pound Lane sites.

It is expected the changeover will take a matter of weeks to complete.

Councillor Eileen Wragg said she was opposed to the sale, and the plots should be cleared instead.

"There's more of a demand for the plots," she said. "With the various mechanical inventions, there's nothing to say these pieces of land can't be cleared and cultivated."

Councillor Trevor Cope said: "I would be loath to sell allotment land, certainly at this time, when it is at a premium.

"The last time it came up, five years ago, there was a public outcry because they didn't want us to sell.

"If we do sell, we are duty bound to find other allotment land within the town."

l Should Exmouth Town Council sell off allotment land? Have your say at www.exmouthjournal.co.uk