Council's bid for the 'good life'

GREEN-FINGERED residents living in a 1,500-home development in Portishead could soon be growing vegetables and picking flowers on their own allotments.At the recent annual town meeting, Cllr Michael Johnston said he felt Portishead Town Council should be putting pressure on developers building new houses in the community to enable homeowners to indulge their passion for gardening.Portishead boasts around 200 allotments in Down Road, North Weston and Beach Hill which can be rented for as little as £8 per year.The plots are so popular, people who would like one, face a wait of around three years. Cllr Johnston would like to see allotments springing up on the Ashlands housing development to give residents the chance to grow their own vegetables and flowers. After the meeting, Cllr Johnston, who described himself as 'a relatively keen gardener', and who had an allotment himself in North Weston for a while, said: "I first made the suggestion that allotments should be made available near new homes some years ago."On Ashlands, there is quite a lot of green land."We're all becoming more conscious of environmental issues and the idea of people growing their own vegetables is back in vogue."Allotments can be strictly controlled so they don't look unsightly, with dilapidated huts and plastic lean-tos everywhere. I'm sure the allotments would prove popular."Like a lot of new houses, it's very unlikely any of the gardens on the Ashlands development would even have space for a vegetable patch."Some people are happy to have just a patch of grass and a patio area, but I'm sure others would like a bit more scope to use their gardening skills."Cllr Johnston is going to ask planning officers at North Somerset Council to raise the issue of allotments on the Ashlands with the housebuilders.