North Somerset Council has provided planning permission for a private allotment site in Abbots Leigh.

The council vote on Wednesday last week granted private company Roots Allotment retrospective planning permission for the 600-plot site that was developed in 2023.

Whilst the council provided Roots with a lawful development certificate for the project in November 2023, the company later applied for full planning permission to install additional items including storage containers, CCTV cameras and an access track at the site.

Roots reportedly claims the project is helping to combat issues such as increased allotment waiting lists in the area.

However, the scheme has been met with resistance from residents, as well as figures such as Dragons' Den star Deborah Meaden, who previously criticised the company’s use of ‘biodiversity rich meadows’ when the project was first launched.

In a statement, Abbots Leigh Parish Council said: 'While we are disappointed with the result that Roots were granted retrospective planning permission, we are delighted that we have showed that planning permission is required for the infrastructure needed to run the site.'

Abbots Leigh Parish Council argued that 'the cumulative effect of all the infrastructure on the site – parked cars, containers, CCTV and hard-core tracks – is of great detriment to [the] openness [of the Green Belt].'

North Somerset Council has confirmed it will ‘continue to monitor the site to ensure compliance with planning regulations and the conditions which have now been imposed on the development’.