I was asked to write 450 words on the latest in the saga for Launton Lines Magazine (March 2006 edition). Here it is:
And here is an article from a recent Launton Lines village magazine, on the allotment saga
from the Rev Margaret Mullins, vicar of Launton.
Hmm. Say 40 plot holders paid £10 a year, that would be £400 a year towards the Parish Share. So far the cost of preparing the unsuccessful application will already be much much more than that, or even the £2,500 the glebe land supposedly provides towards the share. It will cost the diocese (and parishioners) even more if an appeal is launched, etc. If the land is eventually sold for HUGE sums of money for development that might be recouped (after the diocese & parishioners have paid for the actual building), only then, perhaps, as a result of this action will Launton not - surely - have to pay its £2,500 a year that is allegedly provided for by glebe...
Report of the Parochial Church Council of Launton in same edition
When I spoke to Carter Jonas about the previous tenant advertising via a sign on the roadside, Rachel Howes told me 'he had no right to do so'. When Penny Stephens of Launton was offered a plot on the allotments in the summer of 2004, she offered to publicise the fact of their availability, but Carter Jonas said 'no thanks'...
And the parish council said at a recent meeting that Carter Jonas asked them to stop referring people to them if they were in search of allotments.
Background info/press Cherwell refusal Petition history Village view