Topic: Local initiatives. who is working the countries allotments?

[AntZ]

Just let me start by introducing myself.

In the broadest terms, I am a middle aged man who for the last 3 years has tried to make a difference to my life by growing my own food. Although I am not Vegetarian I eat meat rarely, and believe that a balance in life the way forward.

I believe in the  environment and the need to conserve energy and the resources of the planet. But don't get me wrong , I am not a nut who will bomb your local ice-cream man  for selling frozen milk products that came from a non registered cow.

I live in West Yorkshire and am lucky enough to have a plot (or 2 ; shared) that has recently been taken over again by town council (KEIGHLEY) and not by the local city. (BRADFORD IN THIS CASE)

This has made a difference, and  new work through local charitable initiatives (such as men's health ) has given us new paths and the promise of a more secure site, the local school has taken over new two allotments and although we are unsure of how this will effect our site we look forward to their involvement.

It has made me wonder about the structure of the sites around the country. What do we get for our money: indeed how much do we pay for our plots? what is the best way forward? Are the days of the flat capped Woodbine smoking old man gone, to be replaced by........................................................... ?

Who runs the alotments and what monnies can we apply for?

What service should we expect from our local authorities?

Is this a ramble or just a delve in the dark for answers?


I cannot say,  but welcome your replies.

[Svea]

welcome on board.

can't contribute much to your question - our allotments are owned by the church commissioners and rented from them (via the allotment society).

as to demographics - we have 15 plots and 4 are worked by people up to 35ish, 3 by people over 70, and the rest by inbetweeners. we have 4 couples, 5 women and 6 men working the plots.

the stereotypical 'old man' doesnt really apply to our site :)

svea

[Anne Robertson]

We have 43 plots, 12 used by people aged between 45 and 92! not seen any children there, shame.
Rent  = £9 a year inc. water.
Land owned by Shell, therefore no permenant structure over a metre high allowed :( (so no shed :().

[Linda]

We have 3.8 acres divided into 52 plots (if you add up all the halfs, fulls and extra bigs!)

For the site, we pay around £1000 per year, which works out at just under 20 per plot. We charge our members £30 which gives us about £500 a year to do everything that needs doing.

Our Council is definately 'hands off' ie they don't do anything except send us a bill! We recently negotiated an area wide allotment budget made up of the profit from allt he site rents, likely to be about £3000 per year, but it isn't clear how we will access this. They are currently talking about holding it as match funding for projects for which we will have to apply for grant funding from other bodies. No chance of getting our hands on it for fence repairs then. >:(

Our £500 a year has to cover admin, water, site maintenance (mowing etc) fence repairs and replacement, skip hire, and servicing the machinery. Amazing we manage to do it at all really.

Demographics - of a total of 45 members, we are about 50/50 women/men, age range 22-79 plus an assortment of children. At least 50% are organic and several run permaculture plots. Just 4 'diehard' old men, only one of whom wears a flat cap!

Hope that answers your question.

Linda

[SpeedyMango]

Hello there.

I have a plot on a non-council site here: http://www.paddocks-allotments.org.uk/. There are over 200 ten-rod plots on the site.

We pay a massive (!) £20 per year for a full plot, or £10 per half plot. Plus £20 joining fee and £20 deposit should we wish to erect one small shed on our plot (this covers the cost of removal should the owner do a moonlight flit).

Facilites include a pool of power tools (mowers, strimmers, cultivator etc.) and various 'specialist' hand tools (for clearing work). Water is obtained from bore-holes via hand-pumps and lorry-loads of horse easings* from the local stables can be ordered for ten pound a load. We should shortly have the use of a new building to house the office, tool store etc. with possible locker space for some plot-holders to store their own tools etc.

I don't own a flat cap (yet) but there are quite a few retired plot-holders on the site (they are the ones with the completely weed-free plots!). I would say there is a good mixture of men and women and families of all ages.

*a term I heard recently, and that I think is fabulous!  ;D

[robsa]

We have 68  half-plots (150sq yd) on a brand new site in the new village of Cambourne near Cambridge.

We pay £2.50 per year for these half-plots - although this is being heavily subsidised by the parish council until we know our water usage charges.

Our demographic is probably unusual for an allotment site - many young families and young professionals - this mirrors the demographic of Cambourne itself.

You can read an article about the site that appeared in the Times at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,587-1588027,00.html.

I've also just launched a new website at http://www.cambourneallotment.org. It's only been open a day so it's looking a bit bare at the moment.

Robin

[Robert_Brenchley]

We have about 80 plots on a site which is privately owned, but leased to the Council and then sub-let to us. Unfortunately when they took the site on, they shilly-shallied for so long that part of the site wasleasedto the Botanical Gardens; they threw the plotholders off, used part of it as the TV garden for some years, and it's been derelict ever since. The Council, meanwhile, demolished a lot of Victorian brick summerhouses (I'm still salvaging bricks and using them to build a path), damaged hedges, and drove off enough plotholders to create the opportunity for the site kleptomaniacs to steal thousands of Victorian edging tiles, blue bricks, etc, which are still secretly piled up on the woman's plot. The site is now listed (how many listed allotment sites are there, I wonder? I know of one other) due to the hedges.

[SpeedyMango]

We have 68  half-plots (150sq yd) on a brand new site in the new village of Cambourne near Cambridge.

I've also just launched a new website at http://www.cambourneallotment.org. It's only been open a day so it's looking a bit bare at the moment.

Robin,

That looks a fantastic website! Hope your new allotments go from strength to strength!

[westsussexlottie]

Probably about 30 plots - about two thirds in cultivation and one third  of overgrown brambles 6ft high....
Pay to the Parish Council an annual fee of £21 for a single plot including water which comes from a private supply (yippee no hose pipe ban). There are standpipes provided but we have to mow our own paths and cut our own hedges. We are not allowed ponds and have to have the plot checked twice a year for "hazards". We have to ask permission for putting up sheds and greenhouses.
We are the younger crowd - most people in their 40s and 50s but very few older flat cap stereotypes at our plots.

[robsa]

That looks a fantastic website! Hope your new allotments go from strength to strength!

Thanks, SpeedyMango - everyone's really excited about the new allotments at the moment - it's a great community venture.

[SpeedyMango]

Noticed the article in next month's Kitchen Garden magazine too. That must be a record for media coverage for an allotment site!

You should have a long waiting list soon!

[robsa]

Huh? What article - don't know anything about it. Can you post a few details?

Our waiting list is really long already  :) In fact demand is so high that some people have been kicked off already because they hadn't done any cultivation in the first 2 months. The developers are also planning a second site nearby because of demand.

Robin

[daveandtara]

the 'demographics' of our site are a bit odd. we rent our plots from the council for the princely sum of 5 quid a year, 2.50 for the unwaged. there is tapwater and one (disgusting, never used) loo.
there must be fifty odd plots. no-one at our end (apart from us) speaks much english. most are turkish and they are embroiled in a war with the kurdish contingent.
we for our part are interested in permeaculture. the rather grandiose title actually means common sense liberally applied. ie, if you're worried about the environment tidy your bit up and plant a wildlife garden. we're not trying to change the world, just our little bit of it. and there's a lot of us about.