Topic: Defining a maximum area for fruit and flowers

[Deb P]

Blimey that would have been bad news for me and my shed.......

[Digeroo]

The basic premise is that one member of the committee believes that a minimum of 75% of the plot should be vegetables

I am certainly against one person having very set ideas on what should or should not be grown and then attempting to imposing that on others.   

They are supposed to be allotments or leisure gardens. 

I think at least 50% of one of my half plots is now fruit. And I still grow more vegetables than most certainly more during the winter when some plots are more of less empty.  And I am glad that I have the choice.   

[ancellsfarmer]

What a shame your council cannot find a homeless soul, a neglected child, an untidy street, a n abandoned car,a pothole, a parking miscreant or an environmental disaster to invest their time in.

[sparrow]

I think my question is really whether setting any limit for fruit/flowers is legitimate at all and whether it can be justified in relation to allotment law

Personally I think a) no and b) no. There are no restrictions in the allotment act so I'm not sure where this could be based. Why does the committee member have such a bee in their bonnet about it? Surely it's better to focus on plots being well-maintained?

We have a cultivation rate of 75% for fruit and veg. Trees are permitted but need to be kept within reasonable height (about 8ft) and we don't allow 100% orchard plots. Lots of sites don't.

Rules are different from site to site though. My friend's site doesn't allow any trees in the ground nor any structures over 5ft - it's fairly arbitrary & all the sheds are inventive! They have plots there which are 100% flowers, many dahlias I think.