Plans lodged to creat 60 new allotment sites in Bannockburn

dailyrecord.co.uk:

New public allotments could be created near Bannockburn in plans submitted to Stirling Council.Spectrums Properties 2020 Ltd want to create 60 new plots along with an access road, parking, communal area, fences and shed plots on land between the A872 and M8- next to south of Bannockburn Interchange.An allotment is an area of land, leased either from a private or local authority landlord, mainly for growing fruit and vegetables but in some cases also for ornamental plants and the keeping of hens, rabbits and bees.

They generally measure around 250 square metres - roughly the size of a tennis court.The application site is currently agricultural land but the applicants say there is local demand and a number of benefits in the new project.In documents submitted with the application, agents said: “The applicant has identified a demand in the local area for such a facility, in the absence of any new allotments being established, and a desire by the general public to grow their own organic foods to counteract the current inflationary costs of food, as well as the mental wellbeing associated with this activity.Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.“The site is an open field that has been historically used for agriculture - cattle and sheep grazing.

Because the field size has been restricted by the formation of the slipway to the A9 and then the dumping of [road] planings, it does get used for grazing from time to time, however it is not entirely suitable due to its size.“The use of a field for food growing within allotments is generally a more intensive land use than arable farming, however, in terms of land use, food growing in allotments is very closely aligned with agriculture and the difference is not