Plans have been submitted to turn part of an allotment site into a natural habitat - despite waiting lists standing at 26 months.

Allerdale Council has submitted plans for the land to the north of the main access track into the Northside Allotments site from the A596.

It wants 0.39 hectares of the total 1.1 hectares site to become part of the adjoining Siddick Pond Nature Reserve.

In April last year, Workington town council handed over the reins of the site to Allerdale Council as it could no longer afford to meet its legal obligations to provide a clean environment for allotment development.

Ever since, Allerdale Council has been assessing how it should be used. They wrote to the 16 tenants at the site and have been working alongside local partners to find alternative provision for remaining plot holders.

Allerdale Council say the Northside site is “not a suitable site for allotment development, and provision is best focussed on developing capacity at other local sites”.

“Despite loss of natural habitat around the pond in recent decades, Siddick Pond remains a fantastic place for wildlife of all kinds,” a spokesman for Allerdale Council said.

“The proposed scheme for the northern section of the non-statutory allotment site, will help to redress the balance by returning the largely vacant plots to open space and integrating the land with the nature reserve.

“As well as creating new space for wildlife, the scheme will encourage more people to enjoy the nature reserve, using new footpaths that will provide excellent wildlife-watching opportunities. The council is working with the tenants on a solution for the long-term management of the southern section of the site, which is to be retained as community plots.”

There is currently an allotment waiting list of about 60 and a turnover of 20-30 plots per year.