Digging in: council rejects plan for allotments in green belt near Bristol

Residents Liz Phillips, Jenny Lacey, Emma Burgh, Pip A'Ness and Simon Talbot-Ponsonby, the parish council chair, who said: ‘Allotments are a good thing but not at that scale.’ Photograph: Adrian Sherratt/The Guardian

It sounds a progressive, imaginative project. A beautiful hilltop allotment site that would serve the people of Bristol keen to get out in the fresh air and grow their own fruit and veg, but who cannot find plots in their city.

However, members of a planning committee have dealt a severe blow to the scheme after people who live near the site in the well-heeled village of Abbots Leigh launched a fierce campaign against the privately run project, arguing it would blight their idyllic green belt area.