PLANS to beef up security at a city allotment are set to be decided by councillors.

Worcester City Council is looking to replace and install new fences and gates at the Old Northwick Lane Allotments in Lugano Road, in the latest part of its work to improve security after spates of thefts and vandalism at allotments around the city.

Under the plans to tighten security, another 1.8-metre fence would be installed around the perimeter of the allotments including Lugano Road and Geneva Close.

A decision will be made by Worcester City Council’s planning committee at a meeting in the Guildhall on Thursday (September 21).

The plan will be discussed in public as the application is being made by the city council and the city council’s planning officers have recommended it is approved.

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Although not everyone has welcomed the proposed new fencing with one neighbour likening it to a “yard in a concentration camp” and calling the plan “thoughtless and careless.”

“My wife and I feel that having a large boundary fence would be greatly detrimental to both our physical and mental outlook and wellbeing, especially considering we are nearing retirement,” the objection said.

“We have invested time and finance preparing our property for that moment and have been looking forward to enjoying the serenity offered from such a wonderful outlook, only to have it snatched away from us by such a careless and thoughtless proposal.”

Another objector said a six-foot-high fence would be “extremely oppressive.”

“I profoundly object to a six-foot fence around my boundary and to that of the rest of the allotment area, as I do not wish to have a view that reflects that of a prison yard,” another objection said.

“The boundary fence is very close to my property and as such would be extremely oppressive and unnecessary.”

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A report from the council’s planning officers, which will be discussed by councillors, said: “The purpose of increasing […] fencing is to provide a much-needed security provision following reports of a number of individuals accessing the site who are not tenants and thefts from plot-holders sheds, the increase in height will help to deter future thefts or acts of vandalism within the site in the future.

“It is considered that a green fence will be much more in keeping with the surrounding environment.”