Hythe's Allotment Holders rates Forced Up 66% by the Conservatives

Conservative run Hythe Town Council decided on Thursday evening, at its Full Council meeting, to amend its 'fees and charges' and make Allotment Holders fork out an extra £2 per perch.

With most allotment plots measuring either 5 or 10 perches the extra fees will rake in for the Council a whopping £10 or £20 on top of the usual fee per plot. With charges currently set at £15 or £30 respectively this amounts to an Allotment Tax of 66.6%!

The increased fees cover the Hythe allotments at Eaton Lands, Longbridge, Twiss Road and Horn Street.

Ex-Hythe Mayor Neil Matthews said:

"This extra amount the Council is asking Hythe's allotment holders to pay is not an 'in line with inflation' rise, but nothing short of a massive Tax placed on 'growing your own'. This is quite simply outrageous and clearly demonstrates the Tories on the Town Council have lost the plot!

"Not content with Tory run Shepway District Council creating a 'Garden Tax' of £35 a year by charging for Brown Top Bins, now the Conservatives on Hythe Town Council want to tax residents who slipped that net by taxing allotment holders too. The tax of 66.6% of their normal allotment fees will be charged from April."

Darren Briddock commented:

"Hythe Town Council offers 106 allotments for let and should be encouraging residents to take up 'growing your own' not trying to put people off. What for Cameron's 'green' Tories - a Window Box Tax perhaps?"

"By charging more per perch has Hythe Town Council made a rod for its own back? It's poles apart from the green issues the Tories claim to adhere to."

A perch of area covers exactly 272.25 square feet or about 25.292 85 square meters. There are 40 perches in a rood and 160 perches in an acre.