Author Topic: "Feathers fly over Raynes Park allotment future"  (Read 3480 times)


thifasmom

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,785
  • Growing my own, rocks!!! Maidstone, Kent.
    • Kella's Creative Wishes: Handmade Jewellery & Lots more.
Re: "Feathers fly over Raynes Park allotment future"
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2009, 11:45:40 »
hmm! that's a toughie i can certainly see both sides point of view but I'm sure there is a workable situation/ compromise that can be reached if both sides keep a cool head and open mind.

lewic

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 944
Re: "Feathers fly over Raynes Park allotment future"
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2009, 11:48:42 »
I'd wager that most of the people complaining about the land being turned into allotments live in large houses with gardens and do not rely on growing their own food.

Allotments are havens for wildlife too - the birds and  bees will adapt, as they have done for millennia.

Eristic

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,824
  • NW London (Brent)
    • Down the Plot
Re: "Feathers fly over Raynes Park allotment future"
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2009, 12:58:13 »
Allotments can happily co-exist with wildlife. In fact to a degree both rely on each other.

SPUDLY

  • Acre
  • ****
  • Posts: 283
Re: "Feathers fly over Raynes Park allotment future"
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2009, 16:37:47 »
I think its a shame. I know people are crying out for allotments, but its just a fashion statement at the moment. If as they say, this land has not been touched for thirty years, where have all the prospective allotment holders been all this time. It will be the same as has been on our site in the past. People take on a plot, see how much hard work goes into keeping it running, and give it up, without letting the council or committee know until it comes time to collect the rent, thus letting a plot go to waste for another year. I say keep it as a wildlife site. If they want an allotment that bad, let them dig up their manicured lawn.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2009, 16:39:39 by SPUDLY »

shirlton

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,879
  • west midlands
Re: "Feathers fly over Raynes Park allotment future"
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2009, 17:00:28 »
As far as allotment sites interfering with natural habitats is concerned, how about this for an example. We have a huge park in Sutton where we live. Tony and I used to walk in the acres of parkland about 3 times a week. At any one given time we only saw around 5 thrushes at a time and then only in one area of the parkland.We only ever saw 1 fox in all the time we spent there. Never saw a goldfinch or long tailed tits. Our allotments are not in the countryside in fact we have four high storey blocks of flats in the same road. We have all the species of bird that I mentioned and not just in two's or threes .I have seen more wildlife on our allotments than anywhere(except a wildlife sanctuary)
When I get old I don't want people thinking
                      "What a sweet little old lady"........
                             I want em saying
                    "Oh Crap! Whats she up to now ?"

swakefi594

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Re: "Feathers fly over Raynes Park allotment future"
« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2009, 12:11:54 »
May I suggest a compromise? I think that having to decide between valuable wildlife habitat and allotments is a false choice. I would argue that we need both. Thankfully, there are food growing systems which operate according to nature's own principles, which makes them sustainable over the long-term and which incorporate biodiversity as an essential feature. This would in fact seem to me, therefore, to be a valuable opportunity to create a more natural food growing system, perhaps as a demonstration and educational project. Some of these systems were highlighted on the recent BBC 2 programme "A Farm for the Future".

One such system is known as a forest garden. It is essentially an edible landscape structured to reflect the development pathways and structure of a woodland but with a preponderance of food producing species. It uses biodiversity to create and sustain flows of nutrients and energy while at the same time providing food. By letting nature do the work it is also highly efficient -- that is to say there is a greater production of food per unit of effort than in a conventional vegetable plot. It can produce a great diversity of foods, such as nuts, berries, fruit, roots, etc. as well as, if desired, other useful products such as timber.

I realise that this may not necessarily respond to the immediate need for additional allotments but it could satisfy both the needs of wildlife conservation and local food production. If it was set up as a community project then all the stakeholders would have an involvement with its development. We are going to need such systems as our industrial agriculture becomes increasingly fragile due to its reliance on high energy inputs, and the more pioneers in this field there are the better.

A forest garden is one example of an approach to food production more widely recognised as permaculture. There are many groups who could advise on such a scheme, such as Naturewise in London or the Agroforestry Research Institute in Devon. I would be happy to provide contact details if anybody wanted to follow this up.

I would be interested to know your thoughts on the above and would be grateful if you could pass my message on to those concerned.

With kind regards,

Simon Wakefield,
Morden resident and ecologist

Robert_Brenchley

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 15,593
    • My blog
Re: "Feathers fly over Raynes Park allotment future"
« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2009, 18:46:57 »
We have masses of small trees and hedges on our site, and it teems with wildlife. As far as that goes, a lot of it's effectively scrubland. The two aren't mutually exclusive at all.

powerspade

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 513
Re: "Feathers fly over Raynes Park allotment future"
« Reply #8 on: March 16, 2009, 06:52:18 »
Put peas in last Friday and got buzzed by a bumble bee - first I`ve seen this year. When I took on my plot a few years ago there were only three of us. The site was mostly derelict cover in bramble etc, the wild life was not all that prolific apart from a couple of blackbirds and the occasional cat, Now the whole site is occupied and we had a wren nest last year, thrushes  sparrows, chaffinches, robins, and I can go on The place has become alive with wild life. Mind you we have encouraged them by putting up nesting boxes on the trees and telephone poles, also I and some others feed the birds hoping that by doing so they will not eat our crops 

 

anything
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal