REDBRIDGE COUNCIL ALLOTMENT SALES

That this House notes that Conservative-controlled Redbridge Council has drawn up secret plans to sell off a large number of local land sites, including popular allotments and car parks, in an effort to raise up to £150 million; further notes that many of these sites are in Ilford South, the most overcrowded and poorest part of the borough, including allotments in Goodmayes Park extension and Vicarage Lane South; congratulates all those involved in the campaign by local residents against the secret Tory plans; welcomes the letter to the hon. Member for Ilford South on 23rd March 2007 from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Communities and Local Government, Baroness Andrews, which confirms that `where a statutory allotment is disposed of, the 1908 Allotment Act requires that any proceeds must be used for the purposes of allotments, and only surplus may be used for other purposes'; further notes that Planning Policy Guidance 17 provides protection of green spaces; and draws the attention of Redbridge Conservative councillors to the statement of the Minister that `open spaces which local communities need should not be built on'.