Topic: oh dear - my first ever letter!

[emmy1978]

Poor pigeonseed! I would photocopy the recommended jobs for December and January out of an allotment book and send them to the council with your letter! Maybe then they'll see how unreasonable they are being!
Like other posters have said-come March they won't be able to see you-you'll be a blur whizzing around the plot with all there is to do. I can't wait for the growing season.  ;D

[pigeonseed]

Oh thank you - I am feeling very impatient.
I've got another phyisio appointment tomorrow morning, I'll ask her how soon she thinks I'll be back to 'normal'.

I called Tesco today about getting plastic banners and they say they're 'not allowed' to give them away. Sainsbury's say call back another time. So there's hope!

I'm going to attack as many brambles as I can with secateurs over the next few days. That's easier on the back than digging, and I can cover the ground afterwards.

[1066]

Might be a bit left field but what about using estate agent boards, they are plentiful?!


Hope the back is feeling better soon
1066

[pigeonseed]

That's a good idea - I've seen people build compost and other storage boxes out of them. I'll give it a go - maybe when they get too tatty to re-use they would give them away.

[1066]

It's either that or a wander around, I sometimes see them pulled down and proped up by rubbish bins. But they might be a bit heavy to carry, I'm not sure

[manicscousers]

we used thick cardboard under the compost bags, carpet, weed control,etc it helped kill off the minor weeds and stifled any new growth  :)

[Squash64]

One of our plotholders has a fish and chip shop and she brings us as many used potato sacks as we want.  If you are able to get some, they would be good as they are made of 3 layers of thick paper (6 layers if you don't cut the bags)

[coznbob]

Hiya pigeonseed, well you learn something everyday, didn't even know there were allotments up there.

Fernbank is further down Old London Road between it and Bembrook Road.

Hope the physio goes well ;D

[1066]

I had to go and look those sites up  :D

Anyway what I've been meaning to post for a couple of days is that Judges postcards (on the Bexhill Road) often have pallets outside with notes on to say help yourself. So if you have transport they might be of use to hold things down ?

1066

[pigeonseed]

Judges postcards (on the Bexhill Road) often have pallets outside with notes on to say help yourself.

Ooh! That's useful to know! Thank you!

Hope the physio goes well

Thank you - apparently I should see some improvement within 6 weeks - hooray! I was doing my exercises wrong though, so that was a waste of the last month!  ::)

I cut down a huge patch of brambles and grass today with my secateurs and shears, and brought a tarpaulin to cover it - it looked like a hanky by the time I laid it down! But got to start somewhere!

I think everyone's advice to chop lots down was a good idea - even though it's not actually ready to plant anything and still needs digging, it looks dramatically different, and so that's not just good for impressing the inspector, but quite good psychologically for me as well. It feels like much faster progress than digging out roots bit by bit.

Thanks for so much good advice!!

[1066]

good to hear you are making some progress, its important to be able to look back and see the POSITIVE changes  :D

Hope he New Year brings you some respite with your back, a great growing year and that the Council lay off!

1066

[pigeonseed]

Thank you - and I hope this year brings you lots of lovely crops and a shed!

Happy New Year to everyone!

[pigeonseed]

I spoke to the man at the council - I don't know what to think.

He didn't seem to think that things like illness were relevant, he said 'the trouble is I've got a waiting list of 200 people' and 'you have a tenancy agreement which says you have to have a certain amount cultivated.'

However he did say that if there was some improvement since his last visit when he goes again on Monday, I would hopefully not get the next stage, which is a notice to quit, sent registered post.  :o :o

He also said that my row of plots are always uncultivated, and change hands often, without anyone ever managing to do anything with them, so that's why mine was so overgrown.

It makes me think that the system is not working - the aim isn't to get as many people to the top of the waiting list as possible, it's to get people growing veg. And if they fail, that's the true waste of a plot. I wonder whether our site should get a load of these plot rotavated so people find it less off-putting. And maybe split them into smaller plots?

I have no idea how to go about that. There's probably a committee or something. I should try and find out. In a week's time, lots of these overgrown plots will become vacant and so it would be the time to do something.

[1066]

Pigeonseed that is a bit of a mixed message isn't it!
Do you have Site Reps on your site? Maybe if you do they should be looking at trying to sort out those particular plots? And if not maybe you should become one!!
On our site if the plot is really overgrown they often do a years free rent so as to give the tenant time to clear the land and then get it cultivated.
I would also make sure he is talking about the correct plot and not someone elses!

Hope Monday's inspection goes well and thanks for the positive vibes about the shed!!

1066

[pigeonseed]

I would also make sure he is talking about the correct plot and not someone elses!

Do you know that has also crossed my mind!
I also made a mistake when I first viewed the plots, I turned up on the first day and found someone digging 'my' plot, which was when I realised it wasn't mine!

I'm always envious of people whose sites rotavate or give a discount to overgrown plots. I don't know how to find out if there are site reps. Should I ask the same inspector, do you think he would know?

It would be nice to enable people to successfully keep a plot, and use the land properly.

[jonny211]

I'm always envious of people whose sites rotavate or give a discount to overgrown plots.

Our council have a policy of giving the first part of the year (before the next payment) free so we can spend the rent on weedkiller. However I have thought that this gives people an easy reason to give up after a few weeks - they haven't put any money down so off they go.

I've had my two plots for nearly three years now and I've just about cleared them. I only have a pile of soil and weeds where I made the mistake of dumping grass sods as I cleared, I didn't use weedkiller and have cleared them both by hand... with the odd bit of help from the chickens. It is slow going so I'm suprised they're not a bit more lenient.

Hope it goes well.

[chriscross1966]

It makes me think that the system is not working - the aim isn't to get as many people to the top of the waiting list as possible, it's to get people growing veg. And if they fail, that's the true waste of a plot. I wonder whether our site should get a load of these plot rotavated so people find it less off-putting. And maybe split them into smaller plots?

You're not thinking like a council officer at all then... the aim of those plots is to get as many people off the list as possible, preferably without them rejoining it, so if you've got a few horrendous and offputting plots you're making much better use of them to turn three or even four people per year per plot off the list than you are breaking them down into manageable bits where not only do you lose your valuble list-clearing resource but the people who get these small (manageable from start-up) plots will then be back on the list badgering for a bigger plot too....

Only wish I was joking....

chrisc

[1066]

Pigeonseed - it must be worth asking the inspector, I'm sure there are regular meetings (well not sure how regular!) with the council and other sites, so worth checking out.

ChrisCross - I think your point is very accurately made!

[Squash64]

Pigeonseed, reading what you are having to go through makes me so glad that our site is self-managed.

I would hate it if a 'stranger' to the site had the power to evict people without knowing the background to the case.

I'll give you an example of what has happened on our site:-

A plot was looked badly neglected with only a small part of it being cultivated.  
I spotted the elderly plotholder there one day and went to speak to him.  Before I could say anything about his plot, he started telling me that his wife had terminal cancer and that coming to the allotment was the only time he got out of the house.  He needed a place where he could switch off, just for a short time.   I suggested that he gave up half his plot and did his best with the remainder, covering what he couldn't manage so the weeds would be kept down.  He was very happy to do this.

If we had not been self-managed, no doubt this man would have received an official notice to quit letter from the council.

[pigeonseed]

if you've got a few horrendous and offputting plots you're making much better use of them to turn three or even four people per year per plot off the list than you are breaking them down into manageable bits

What an awful thought. I hadn't thought of it like that. Mind you, it's probably easier to let people pootle along, growing veg, than have to issue letters and more letters. It's work for him as well and quite boring - he probably has to listen to lots of begging and excuses (for example me!)

I think I will look into whether there is a site representative or something like that.