GREEN-fingered gardeners will put their planting on pause after Haslemere Town Council delayed a decision whether to revive an old allotment field in Grayswood.

In a meeting at Haslemere Town Hall last week, the council deferred the controversial decision until a more "detailed report" is provided by its amenities committee.

Hayden Smith, of Haslemere town council, said: "We are commissioning a firm of consultants

to carry out tests on the soil at Clammer Hill, to determine the land's suitability for allotments.

"The council will decide on the future of the site once results of these tests are issued."

The debate over the allotments began in January this year, when the council proposed reviving an old allotment site at Clammer Hill, in Grayswood.

However, local Grayswood residents voiced concerns over car-parking, potential damage to the area's "pastoral" character, and poor soil quality.

Clammer Hill has not been

used for allotments since the 1950s, but the council has a statutory right to provide gardening space if a waiting list contains six or more people.

The town council has approximately 60 people registered on a list, and has a duty to make land available for allotments.

An agreement with a local farmer, to allow grazing on the Clammer Hill site, will expire in January, 2009, and the council is under pressure to return the land to local gardeners.

At the meeting, councillors discussed a report by the council's amenities working group.

The report summarised past comments by local residents and recommended a series of solutions.

It suggests 10 allotments should be trialled on the land in the first year, and any subsequent plots could be decided in a subsequent review.

Any plans for designated car parking space would also be reviewed in 2009 under the report's recommendations.

Several Grayswood residents gave statements at the meeting.

Isabel Cole said: "I am a keen gardener, and everyone has the right to grow, but the allotments need to be in the right place.

"Of people on the waiting list, only four are from Grayswood. As a result, our main concern is where will all the additional cars park?

She continued: "Grayswood's landscape will be irredeemably compromised, and the village will receive nothing in return.

"We think the town council should defer implementation of the allotments until all other options are explored.

Aiden Heathcote told the Herald: "The prospect is a very damaging one for the village and it would alter its rural character.

"This really would be a'quasi-urbanisation' of a rural landscape.

"When it was previously used as allotments, it was at a time when people were encouraged to 'dig for victory', at that time most people would not have had cars.

Julian Hall, who lives adjacent to the site, told the meeting: "Clammer Hill has awful, heavy, clay-ridden soil. We had to import 300 tons of top soil for our garden nearby.

"Surely it is not a viable option for the town council?"

William King, Haslemere town mayor, presented three options at the meeting: "Firstly, we could adopt the recommendation to restore the land to allotments in full; secondly, we could submit a planning application for off-road, on-site parking; or thirdly, we could withdraw proposals entirely."

Councillor Robert Knowles added: "We could acquire more land elsewhere for allotments, but we are not allowed to use the Clammer Hill site for anything else while there is a waiting list."

Councillor James Mackie said: "We are faced with a very difficult problem in which our statutory duties conflict with local opposition.

"We should therefore wait for further details from the amenities committee."

The town council already possess two active Haslemere allotment sites, at Collards Lane and Sickle Mill, but demand has outgrown them both.

Haslemere Town Council has referred the debate back to the amenities committee, and will make an informed decision once soil testing is carried out at Clammer Hill.