Following the attack by Cllr Joel Briant and the Labour Party on the borough's allotment sites and his wish to close 23 of our sites and sell off the land to developers, the Bexley Conservative Party have made an undertaking that they will not sanction the sale of any existing allotment land for development and that this will be in their manifesto commitment next May for the council elections.

My own allotment site, Old Farm Allotment Association, which is a truly beautiful, picturesque site full of mature trees was one of the sites under attack from Cllr Briant despite hosting a vibrant, enthusiastic allotment community, and being a refuge for rare wildlife.

I would like to thank Cllr Gareth Bacon and Cllr Clements, members of the Bexley Conservative Party, for all the help they have given to the borough's allotment holders in the last 18 months when our plots were under attack from Cllr Briant and their support for our plans for the future.

Since then we have gone from strength to strength and have increased the number of tenanted plots throughout the borough so much in fact that several sites now have waiting lists.

Following the open day at Crayford Way in August, two more open days are planned for 2006, the first at Longlands in April and then at Old Farm Avenue later in the year which are being supported by Bexley Council's open spaces and parks department who are helping us in our aim to promote and encourage allotment gardening.

Linda Johnson, Arlington Close, Sidcup