Turn our taps back on, allotment holders say

Allotment holders say they are facing long walks to get water for their plants.

North East Lincolnshire Council has turned off most of the water supply and installed four new standpipes at the Carr Lane allotments in Cleethorpes.

But gardeners say the standpipes are further away from plots than their old taps, meaning some are having to carry their water in containers by wheelbarrow for up to a third of a mile (540m).

The local authority said the old water system was leaking and would cost too much to replace, but free water butts had been issued to plot-holders to encourage rain collection.

Previously, taps were situated close to each of the allotments.

Chris Pepper has had a plot at Carr Lane for 50 years. He said he was as far from the standpipes as anyone.

"The plants are starting to suffer because of the dry weather," he explained.

"I'd like the council to restore the water supply to the gardens, it might encourage people to take the allotments on.

"There'll be more people leaving this site over this issue than coming on site."

Fellow allotment-holder Trisha Kersey said she had no means of getting water to her plot and had not "put anything in that requires watering".

Ronnie Gibson said he had recently taken on an allotment, but would not have done so had he known about the water situation.

"A site like this is 50 acres plus," he added. "All these people who've been here years are heartbroken – it's a community here."

Gerry Daine, 87, described having to take water in bottles in the back of his van.

"It's terrible, I've been on here since 1982 and I've never known anything like it," he said.

"It now takes me two hours to collect the water."

In 2024, gardeners described how they had been left without water "for months" because of a leak.

In a statement, the council said old cast-iron pipework had been leaking across the site.

"Repairs had become increasingly frequent, expensive, and disruptive to our Carr Lane tenants who faced an inconsistent water supply," the authority said.

"Unfortunately, investigations showed that replacing the entire system was simply not affordable – it would also mean huge excavation across the site."

However, while the council wanted to encourage rain collection to feed plots, it said it would support those people "who will find it difficult to move supplies of water".

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