A British businessman and his supermarket company have been evicted from a council-owned allotment in north London after the land was unlawfully converted into a commercial storage and access area.
Suleyman Tekagac, director of Öncü Food Centre, and the company were ordered by Wandsworth County Court on 14 July to leave the plot at Elliots Field Allotment in Aspen Way, Enfield, restore the land and pay Enfield Council £2,013 in legal costs.
According to Enfield Council, neither Tekagac nor Öncü Food Centre had a legal tenancy for the allotment. The business had previously approached the local authority seeking to buy or lease the land for commercial purposes, but permission was refused.
Council officers subsequently discovered during a routine inspection that the allotment was being used as a storage facility for the business.
Trees had been removed, large freezer containers installed and fencing erected, while parts of the plot had been paved over and a driveway created to provide vehicle access.
After Tekagac and the company initially failed to comply with the court order, bailiffs were appointed to recover the site on behalf of the council.
Under allotment rules, plots are intended for growing fruit, vegetables and flowers, with only limited structures such as sheds, greenhouses and polytunnels permitted.
The council has now regained possession of the land and says it will be returned to legitimate allotment use.
Councillor Maria Alexandrou, Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, said the authority would act where council land was occupied or misused without permission, adding that allotments were “valuable community assets” intended for residents to grow food, spend time outdoors and support biodiversity.
Companies House records show Tekagac is a British national and a director of several active companies, including Öncü Food Centre Limited, which he has headed since 2013.
