A group in Great Ayton has been awarded a grant to buy the village allotments and safeguard them for the future – with Rishi's help.
The grant of more than £190,000 will enable the group to make progress in reaching agreement with the landowner who put the allotments up for sale in 2023.
The group heard over Christmas that an application to the Community Ownership Fund, which Rishi helped to establish in his time as Chancellor, had been successful.
The application was made by the village’s parish council on behalf of the allotments group. The application had been placed in jeopardy after the July General Election when the new Government effectively froze the fund.
It has now said that many of the applications which had been made before the election – including Great Ayton’s – will be granted but the fund will then be permanently closed.
Cllr Ron Kirk, chair of the parish council, said: “We are delighted at this news. It has been an anxious wait but we have now been granted the full amount we bid for and this puts us in a position to enter negotiations with the landowner.
“I would like to thank everyone who worked on the application and for Rishi’s support, firstly in helping to establish the fund when he was in Government, his backing for our application in his role as our local MP and pressing Ministers since the election to complete the grant-making process. The grant is essential to the success of the project.”
Jacq Walker of the allotments group said: “This is the best possible news for our group which has worked so hard for over a year to gather support for the project and raise more than £50,000 towards our goal of community ownership. Rishi’s backing throughout has been very important and we thank him for coming to see us at the allotments earlier this year and supporting our efforts.”
Rishi said: "I am delighted the group is to receive the support from the fund. It was just the kind of project I had in mind when I launched the Community Ownership Fund in 2021, helping a group of community-minded people to secure and maintain for the benefit of all a community asset at danger of being lost.
"I am looking forward to the group now being able to make progress in purchasing the land and securing the allotments' future."
The allotments land was put up for sale in September 2023, taking allotment holders by surprise. They feared the land could be sold for development.
Allotment holders worked with the parish council, which leases the land from owner, to have the land registered as an asset of community value, before starting fundraising and then drawing up an application to the Government’s Community Ownership Fund.
