Brent Knoll-based garden centre submits planning application for grow your own plots in empty field.
Sanders has submitted plans to the district council to turn a field to the south of the garden centre into 100 allotments for use by the general public. If the application is approved, it is hoped that work will be completed by the end of the year, with the plots ready for use early next spring.

Sanders is the latest of the Garden Centre Group to create grow your own plots on disused land, with Blooms Solihull recently opening 44 allotments to gardeners interested in growing their own food this year.

It is expected that a number of other centres in the chain, will announce a similar move in coming weeks, as The Garden Centre Group launches a drive to create more space to grow in the UK and take the pressure off already oversubscribed allotment waiting lists.

Sanders manager Peter Burks explained the reasoning behind the decision: "We've got a field with nothing on it and grow your own is so huge, so it seemed like a great idea. We're quite heavily involved with the allotment association in Burnham-on-Sea and know that they have a huge waiting list."

Like Blooms, the private allotments at Sanders will be rented through the garden centre, with plot holders able to use the facilities on site.

Mr Burks believes it is a unique and attractive proposition for growers. "Plot holders will be able to use all of our facilities - we thought that was a good thing, as it's not normal for allotments to have a café or toilets. It also means that if they come down here, we've got everything they could need. So, it's a bonus for them and for us."

The idea to convert the land had originally been Mr Burks. However, plans fell by the wayside when The Garden Centre Group took over Sanders. It is understood that the new initiative across the group is being driven by GCG chief executive Nicholas Marshall who is a keen advocate of grow your own.

Mr Burks told DIY Week "Going back to before we became part of the Garden Centre Group, it was something I'd always wanted to do. At the time of the takeover, quite a lot of spade work was sorted but it came to nothing because a lot was going on and there were bigger fish to fry, as it were."

He added: "It's not just us. There's going to be several members of the Garden Centre Group who will be doing this."