CHRISTCHURCH council has confirmed it is seeking to buy land in Winkton, fuelling fears it intends to relocate the Roeshot Hill allotments there.

The council has made an offer to buy land at Harpway Lane and said allotments are one option being considered for the site.

It has stressed that it will consult residents before any decision are made but this is unlikely to reassure concerned allotment holders or Winkton and Sopley residents.

Sopley resident Philip Emmel said: "It takes a particular skill to spend half a million pounds on community benefits and not benefit either of the communities directly involved.

"The council knows that this allotment relocation is unsustainable, national statistics show that the current thriving allotment association will gradually fade away as allotment holders will not travel over five miles on busy roads to tend their plot.

"This land will then be available for alternative use but it will no longer be the historic parkland heritage of the Sopley Manor Estate.

"It’s value as a heritage asset will have been dug up and its intrinsic beauty permanently lost; In short it will be a prime site for change of designation and subsequent development."

Dave Barnes, strategic director at Christchurch council, said that if the purchase went ahead, the site would need to be compatible with its designation as greenbelt land. If they wanted to use it for allotments, government approval would be needed.

"We have an obligation to use land effectively for the benefit of the borough and its residents and on occasion this involves purchasing land to help deliver benefits to the community.

"We are sensitive to the feelings of local people around this site and understand that they may have concerns, which is why consultation on any change of use will be carried out. We will of course also need to comply fully with the planning process in anything we do going forward."