Sir – Cripley Island is a small island that for many years has been unknown in the locality. It is adjacent to, and only accessible through, Cripley Meadow Allotments.

It is now part of our allotment lease, and we have just secured Lottery ‘Local Food’ funding to help develop it as an orchard.

Cripley Island, like much of Cripley Meadow, is surrounded by crack willow, most of which had not been pollarded for decades. Fallen willows have damaged the banks and plots and blocked the watercourses in Fiddlers Drain, Fiddlers and Castle Mill Stream.

The recent pollarding is part of a programme of renewal in conjunction with the Parks department and has brought in much-needed light.

The Mid Shires Orchard group is helping us to select some 60+ local fruit varieties to help restore the local orchard heritage.

The old apple trees, which we believe were planted by Fred Quatermaine when the island was previously cultivated as allotments, are currently diseased and suffering from a lack of light and care — we hope to nurture them to better health.

The orchard will be accessible to local schools for visits, and to the wider community on apple and orchard open days.

Local schools have worked with us for the past year — our largest pumpkin was the centrepiece at Phil and Jim’s harvest festival! Developing Cripley Island orchard is a commitment to a sustainable future and to the short route from ‘plot to pot’.

We were dismayed when an activist stopped the pollarding last week, thus halting urgent work in perfect weather.

The protest has delayed a programme designed to return a neglected space into a managed, heritage orchard with native coppicing that will be of benefit to our members, the local community and wildlife for many, many years.

Wendy Skinner Smith, John Sivell, Alison Campbell, Sheila Allen, James Allan, Cathy Ferreira, Gabi Topliss, Jamie Forbes, Tony Clear

Cripley Meadow Allotment Association