CAMPAIGNERS have collected more than 2,500 signatures against controversial plans to sell an allotment site to developers.
The Barnett Wood Lane Allotments group was formed last month and joined with another campaign group, the Green Hearts Association, to set up the petition.
The group was formed after Mole Valley District Council invited offers from developers interested in building on the 9.5 acre site where the allotments are currently located.
The petition is due to be heard at a meeting of the district council on July 23, before being looked at by the executive committee a week later.
Leatherhead resident Linda Weller, who has a plot on the allotment site, helped gather some of the signatures.
She said: "We went down to the Swan Centre on Saturday and did a four-hour stint and collected so many signatures, not just disgruntled allotment holders, but normal residents.
"There were also people at Ashtead Village Day who collected some more as well. We have kept proactive in trying to keep the allotments at the front of people's minds."
She added: "You just have to go down to the site to see that this has affected people.
"Plots are becoming free as people do not want to bother working at it anymore, knowing it could all be worthless in two or three years."
The group had submitted a petition of 994 signatures to the district council in March, but are permitted to obtain more until it is discussed by councillors next month.
Mole Valley District Council, which shares ownership of the plots with Merton College, Oxford, invited offers from developers interested in building on the land and six firms were asked to submit detailed proposals earlier this year.
The 103 allotments could potentially be moved to a site on the Ashtead side of the Leatherhead bypass.
Plot holder David Bishop, of Kingscroft Road, said he was "more than happy" to sign the petition.
"I have been at this allotment for nearly 40 years and it is beyond ridiculous that they want to move us," he said.
"All the hard work that has been put in will be ruined. I come down here twice a day sometimes, because it is in walking distance from my house, but now it is going to basically be in Ashtead."
