An attempt to limit the right of a council to sell allotments and move the allotment holders to new allotments some distance away failed in the court recently.
The council concerned wished to sell the land for housing and to move allotment holders to other adjacent plots or to other land more than 1 kilometre away.
The challenge was based on there being two different pieces of legislation (one of which was in effect a set of ‘sweeping up’ laws designed to modernise the older legislation) which appeared to ‘bite’ on the proposed transaction and that the powers they give the council are inconsistent.
The court concluded that whilst the older legislation was not entirely redundant, it did not apply in this case. It granted the council the declaration it sought that it had the power to sell the land as it intended.