Allotment water supply to be turned off in Chatteris

Chatteris Town Council made the decision at their meeting on Tuesday after town clerk Joanna Melton highlighted issues with the way the water was being used.

The council's financial officer Angela Papworth warned that the council could not afford a massive water bill as the funds were not in the budget to pay for one.

Mrs Melton suggested that water permits might be the way forward after describing how the situation had almost come to "fisticuffs" between plot holders and members of the allotment association committee.

Mrs Melton said the problems had been heightened due to the ongoing dry weather and that some plot holders had been attaching hosepipes to the standpipes.

She said: "The rate they have been using water means we are going to be faced with an enormous bill.

"I have been trying to explain the situation to the plot holders, and the association has also tried to encourage people to be more frugal with the way they are using water.

"The situation has gotten out of hand, and it has almost come to fisticuffs at times. I have warned that we will be considering issuing water permits to try to cover the extra costs, and that hasn't gone down well with some of the tenants."

Mrs Melton also pointed out that not all of the council-owned allotment sites have water supplies, and that those with allotments at Queensway have to harvest water over winter, and then, when that runs out, take their own water down to the site.

She said she had discussed water harvesting with the plot holders on the other sites with a supply, but she said many of the tenants were not interested in doing it.

Cllr Matthew Siggee said: "The problem with issuing permits is that people will still use a lot of water because they will want to get their £30 worth or whatever we decide to charge for them."

Mrs Melton said there had been discussions about having the water turned on only at certain times of the week, but that would not work for all the tenants who might not be able to get down to use it at the set time.

There was also a suggestion about increasing the rents to recoup the additional costs of the extra water usage, but Mrs Melton pointed out that tenants must have a year's notice of any rent increase, so that would not work for this year.

Another suggestion was to have communal water butts that were filled up and then left for a set period, so when they were emptied, tenants would have to make alternative arrangements until it was time for them to be refilled.

However, Mrs Melton said that was also likely to be problematic, with some tenants likely to take unfair advantage.

"It would no doubt lead to arguments about who used all the water," she said.

Councillors agreed the solution would be to turn the water off for the time being, and for letters to be sent out warning that it would be turned off permanently if allotment holders continued to use too much.

The letter would also suggest that tenants obtain water butts so they could harvest rainfall to help keep future bills down.