Topic: The Upkeep of allotment by council

[Dopey]

I'm in the borough of Spelthorne (near Heathrow) and the whole site looks like an absolute tip, with rubbish all over the place, there vermin all over, mice rats and rabbits, at a guess I would say there is enough room for at least 100 plots (at 10 poles each) about 30 have been taken, the rest are very overgrown, there's a new car park (sponsored by BAA) there going to put a big front gate up soon, I just feel they have there priority totally wrong, clear the rubbish first then do something about the vermin, I know your not going to get rid of 100% of the vermin, but surly you try and keep it in check, I had a word (a few time) to the guy who is the allotment spokesman (or whatever title he has) when i speak to him he agrees with me, and tells me he has spoken to the council and they just dont do anything about it, it must be so off putting for a prospective allotment holder to come on site and see how much work they have to do and the fences they have to put up even before they start to dig and plant, Runnymede has the highest rent for allotments in the UK, so surely they should look after there property, if someone else left the site in that mess, they would complain soon enough, they get away with it because they thing its not there problem, or just they do what they want? i dont know.... what's the law in all this, surly they just cant leave it in a mess like this ?????

[katynewbie]

Hi Dopey, there should be an allotment group on your site whose job it is to deal with the council and get these things seen to. Have you asked others on the site what they think? If enough of you get together and make a representation to the council there should be a way to get the vermin sorted.

[Dopey]

No I haven't asked about or gone to other forums yet, but there seems to be a few legal wizards on this site so i thought i would ask here first, I did tell the rep and he has told the council...... and nothing happened, seems sometime he just dont care much anyway (my opinion) its just so bloody annoying, you try and grow stuff and it gets eaten or pissed on by rats and other vermin,

[BAK]

I am a bit confused. You say that you are in Spelthorne but infer that Runnymede looks after the site.

According to their website http://www.spelthorne.gov.uk/leisure/bookings/lei_allotmets_main_page/leisure__amp__allotment_sites.htm

Spelthorne Borough Council seems to be responsible for 13 sites (1 self-managed) and there are 2 that are not owned by the council.

From your description it sounds like The Vineries? It mentions that wild rabbits are an issue.

If there are 70 uncultivated plots and rubbish lying around then it is not surprising that rats and other undesirables are around in numbers.

A single rep to cover 100 plots is nowhere near enough.

A starting point may be to find out how some of the other sites in the Borough work ... are they run by one or more reps or by an alloment association or whatever ... how precisely they deal with the council (meetings, etc) and how successful they are at getting things done. Then you and your fellow plot holders can decide on what may work for you.

A successful site requires the participation and collaboration of both plot holders and council.

[cornykev]

Get the holders together and pile up the rubbish in the middle of the site, set light to it and stand back, they'll soon take notice when you have a good fire on the go, it will get rid of the rubbish and watch the vermin leggit.   :-X

[caroline7758]

One plot holder on our site, who is also a councillor, got signatures on a petition asking the council to do something about the vermin. the council's response was basically "It's an allotment site, what do you expect?". >:(     (We are a small site with no association)

[Dopey]

Sorry for the confusion yes its Spelthorne & you right The Vineries, Spout Lane, I will ask the rep again, bomb fire seems a good idea until you see it, it will spread in to houses I the overgrown plant life is dry and its very large aria, (and on a flight path) so will cause havoc

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Spout+Lane,+Stanwell&hl=en&ll=51.465351,-0.498006&spn=0.00262,0.008256&sll=51.455077,-0.441685&sspn=0.083862,0.264187&oq=+Spout+Lane,+Stanwell&hnear=Spout+Ln,+United+Kingdom&t=h&z=18

[taurus]

Invite the local press along.  Get them to take photos and print in the local/weeklies with a write up.  Councillors don't like to be embarrassed. 
Plus get some allotment cats  ;D ;D ;D

[Squash64]

Plus get some allotment cats  ;D ;D ;D

I wondered if anyone would suggest that  ;)

Cats Protection are always looking for places to re-home neutered feral cats. Since we have had the cats, the only rats and mice I see near my plot are dead ones.

[shirlton]

Obviously there isn't the enthusiasm for having an allotment where you live. Everywhere else seems to have waiting lists.

[Ru1]

The problem is that the councils are trying to cut back on any money being spent.  Unfortunately allotments don't seem to be a priority  :-[

Earlier this year, I took over a very overgrown allotment, which everybody else on the site has used as a dumping ground for all sorts of rubbish.

Normally, until this year, the site has had skips at the start and end of the season.  This has now been stopped by the council to "save money".

Unfortunately, it is the belt tightening of the councils which will prevent anything constructive being done.

And nothing we can do about it :-X :-X :-X

[kt.]

Ask the council to go over the whole site with a ride on mower or brushcutters to get high foilage down to ground level.  Then gather and burn it or if some plot holders can pile it up, the council will usually come and remove it.  Once the high waste foilage is gone, then many of the rat problems will go too as their habitat has been disturbed and they will move on.  This will also give prospective plotholders a better chance at tackling plot work what lays ahead.  It would be best for plots to be allocated before the foilage starts to grow again. 

Alternatively,  if you can get the foilage cut down,  would a local farmer plough the land for a small fee, to turn it over so it is easier to mark out.  They could probably do the whole site in a couple of hours.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Sorry for the confusion yes its Spelthorne & you right The Vineries, Spout Lane, I will ask the rep again, bomb fire seems a good idea until you see it, it will spread in to houses I the overgrown plant life is dry and its very large aria, (and on a flight path) so will cause havoc

Wait till it rains, and there won't be any fire risk.

[Ellen K]

If it is like our council, there will be Admin people in the offices whom you are talking to right now and there will be a team of people with a shed load of kit who cut the grass in the borough, look after roundabouts, cut hedges etc.  You have to get on their ToDo list. 

In my first year, I had a spot of bother and asked my local Councillor if he could perhaps give the system a little push.  Well, the chappie who was in charge of actually doing all the work came out to our site to see what the problem was and, when he looked round, he said that certain jobs needed doing on an annual basis and now we are on his list.  Yay Result!!  It was surprising how it fell in to our lap when some of the vets had spent years trying to get "the council" to move.

So keep going.  In reality, councils still have loads of people and kit and mostly want to do stuff.  OK rubbish has to go to landfill amd that costs but for some work the real cost is just diesel to operate their machinery.

Good luck.

[Dopey]

Thats a good idea maybe its a case of getting them to introduce you to the right person in the end
Anyway my son got back from Dubai with my camera and i took a few pics of the allotment site, and this is just an example, there's so much I cant put them all up it would take 50 or 60 picks otherwise




Its the mound at the back of the pic

[shirlton]

You certainly have your work cut out there.

[pumkinlover]

http://www.farmgarden.org.uk/ari/

These will advise you-but you will need to get your other members organised. You've got a hard struggle ahead, but if those allotments stay like that the land will end up as housing  :-\ (is that what the council want?)

[Squash64]

What a shame.  It doesn't even look like an allotment site from the photos.

[sarahbell]

You need some serious help there! Unmade plots are hard to get rid of - don't know if Landshare would have people interested although I don't think you can advertise paid allotments on there.

[shayshay]

Dopey....what plot number are you? Not sure if we know each other already but if we don't might be worth meeting at the allotment over the weekend as there are a few ongoing developments about the site.