The long-term future of Park Road Allotments in Isleworth is “secure” after Northumberland Estates agreed to lease the land and preserve it as allotments.

The long lease will see the management of the site in Isleworth return to Hounslow Council for at least the next 24-years.

It will give current allotment holders the security to grow fruit and vegetables on plots some have tended for decades, and will allow the Council to restore the site, re-let vacant plots to alleviate its allotment waiting list, and protect the abundance of wildlife and biodiversity.

Park Road Allotments, a three-acre wildlife haven and Asset of Community Value, has been used as allotments since 1917, when the 7th Duke of Northumberland leased the land to the Council to feed wounded soldiers returning from the First World War.

It was valued by plot holders during the pandemic, as a place where people without gardens could get outside for their physical and mental health.

The previous lease ended in 2015. After planning permission was declined to develop flats on the site, Northumberland Estates engaged constructively with the Council to secure a future for the site as allotments, by signing a new lease back to the Council.

Cllr Salman Shaheen, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Public Spaces at Hounslow Council, said “We want to thank Northumberland Estates for working with us to secure a long-term future for Park Road Allotments. This historic agreement preserves a site tended by generations of plot holders and loved by the people of Isleworth for over a century. The Estates’ decision will be celebrated by residents and allotment holders alike.

“As much as we need places to live, we also need quality of life and allotments bring so much joy to so many people. They are a green sanctuary, a little patch of paradise in our urban environment where people can come together to connect with nature, grow healthy food, and work land they can call their own.”