Wednesday March 18th 2026
The old allotment site off Auldhill Road in Bridgend is set to be transformed into a community woodland with an orchard.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Stuart Sommerville
Plans to regenerate former allotments in Bridgend have been delayed by fly-tipping and ongoing police and environmental investigations into illegal activities on the site.
The villagers were promised plans in December 2023 to create new woodland and open green-space in Auldhill Road.
The disused allotments showed signs of irregular occupation. Neatly kept pigeon lofts quickly gave way to the threatening disorder of a no-go area as you climbed Auldhill Road.
There was a sullen silence to the landscape and casual visitors were discouraged. Livestock was held in makeshift pens and fires smouldered constantly. The area was littered with fly-tipping. Crude fencing kept people out.
It was a very different place to what was promised at the signing of the lease.
A composite motion agreed by West Lothian Council today [Tuesday] revealed a number of complaints had been received regarding waste dumping, burning of waste on site, and reports of vehicles arriving to dump.
The Fire Service has conducted numerous visits from October 2024 onwards and police were called in to support fire crews because of threatening behaviour by illegal occupants of the former allotments.
In November 2024 WLC reported illegal waste activities to SEPA and Police Scotland. SEPA advised that because of the significant contraventions or continued issues of serious non-compliance with relation to waste on the site, they would serve a statutory notice to Rosebery Estates as landowner; and the council as the responsible tenant of the site, requiring both parties to resolve the matter.
In December last year, following the serving of several court writs to unauthorised occupants of the site, a coordinated eviction took place involving specialist police resource & Sheriff Officers alongside cross service involvement from NETs, Roads, Environmental Health and Trading Standards.
The composite motion added: “This month officers in NETs are preparing a project brief and tender documentation to appoint specialist consultants to undertake site investigation works.
“The site investigation works will determine the next steps to be taken by officers in relation to the site. Similarly, any development of the ground as open space woodland will likely require land remediation and require to be subject to an options appraisal.”
The composite motion was drawn up by local councillors Tom Conn and Pauline Orr. The site sits across the road from the village primary school.
Councillor Orr had originally planned to raise a motion highlighting: “since the land was cleared no further works have been carried out and villagers are asking if it is actually going to happen.
“The village is a deprived area and will benefit significantly from having this available to them.”
Councillor Conn told the meeting of the council that delays had been down to circumstances beyond the council’s control. Much of the work that had been done in recent years had been carried out on a confidential basis involving police and other national agencies.
The motion concluded: “Council instructs the Chief Executive to; bring forward a report and recommendations on the outcome of the site investigations and options for site remedial works to the Environment and Sustainability PDSP and ensure officers engage with the community through the Green Action Trust.
“At the same time as the site investigations are ongoing, on options for how a community woodland would enhance the entrance to the village and the general environment of the village depending on the outcome of the site investigations.”
Tweet Share on Facebook
