Allotments 4 All

General => News => Topic started by: elvis2003 on November 21, 2008, 14:00:17

Title: news just on the telly
Post by: elvis2003 on November 21, 2008, 14:00:17
did anyone else just see the local news (im in birmingham today) it was a news item about plot holders,but i missed the first bit,i THINK it was saying that the council are trying to charge council tax for plots....surely not....anyone see the whole thing?
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: betula on November 21, 2008, 14:06:49
I saw the news item,They are putting the rents up from about £30 to £120
Cannock I think.The council were saying it is not fair that the council tax payers have to subsidise a small amount of people. :)
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: Kea on November 21, 2008, 14:36:07
Oh dear once one council gets the idea......the sky's the limit!
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: betula on November 21, 2008, 14:51:28
Yes,as it stands,I have to admit I would be embarrassed about complaining about a rent that is only a couple of pounds a week.

But I bet it won't stop there,it will probally keep going up.

Traditionally ,most allotments are cheap....another tradition going overboard? :)
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: Kea on November 21, 2008, 14:52:34
here It is

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/7741130.stm
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: froglets on November 21, 2008, 15:28:49
Hang on, isn't that the whole point of something like a Council tax!!!!  It's collected from everybody and distributed back out again to fund a host of services!!!!

If they want to play that game then I want my council tax reduced as I don't need to contribute to schools ( no kids) or care homes ( AP's in another tax regime) or NHS dentists ( like I'm ever going to find one round here).

They can swing for the costs of their new council building and re-organising into a different county/disrtict structure & I don't want to pay for fixing pot holes on the roads I have no need to drive on.

BAH.
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: Borlotti on November 21, 2008, 15:30:27
We could all go on a protest march carrying our spades.
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: caroline7758 on November 21, 2008, 15:33:35
What does it cost the council to run allotments, anyway? In our case, next to nothing because they provide nothing except the land.
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: betula on November 21, 2008, 15:36:36
Ours cuts the hedges along the road side of the site.

It also pays for the water which is on a meter.
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: shirlton on November 21, 2008, 15:45:26
We live in the West Midlands and I'm afraid that if the rent went up to £100 we would have to give up the allotment. Would turn the garden front and back over to growing food,  Concerning the council and what they do for the site. We just get the play area's mowed a couple of times a year. They could always be put back to allotments if the demand for plots continues. Then they wouldn't have to do anything for us.
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: dc2 on November 21, 2008, 18:14:10
I seem to remember a politician saying they were encouraging the green way of life .
Another promise I guess . >:(
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: cornykev on November 21, 2008, 18:35:39
We pay for our own water and get a skip in the summer but we rarely see any council workers doing any maintenance, I guess this is another ploy to try and drag more land back so they can build more flats.  :(
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: mike.jones on November 21, 2008, 18:50:17
I think this is disgraceful, especially in view of the current climate of encouraging as many as possible to grow their own, what with healthy eating and obesity etc. They interviewed some of the allotment holders who said they would have to give up if this went through, simply couldn't afford it. Providing allotments is a public service, just as much as providing a bin, repairing a road etc etc. We should be encouraging and lobbying our councils to provide MORE land for allotments and at a reasonable price. I am.
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: dc2 on November 21, 2008, 19:06:34
I think this is disgraceful, especially in view of the current climate of encouraging as many as possible to grow their own, what with healthy eating and obesity etc. They interviewed some of the allotment holders who said they would have to give up if this went through, simply couldn't afford it. Providing allotments is a public service, just as much as providing a bin, repairing a road etc etc. We should be encouraging and lobbying our councils to provide MORE land for allotments and at a reasonable price. I am.
Actually  providing land to grow on is not just a service its a legal obligation [if enough people ask for irt ]
guess they have found a way around that .
Agree with what else you said though and will be doing the same .
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: powerspade on November 22, 2008, 20:30:27
On the news down here a week or so ago it was said that allotment plots alongside the railway track are going up to £250.00 per year. There are people so upset about the wanten greed that they are threatening to plant Japanese knot weed at all the sites.
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: elvis2003 on November 22, 2008, 22:55:06
kea,thanks for posting the link,its bad,but not as bad as i feared!
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: kt. on November 23, 2008, 09:36:06
I know we are in recession but it could still be a backdoor ploy to force people off the plots so they can sell the land :(
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: dc2 on November 23, 2008, 12:11:43
I know we are in recession but it could still be a backdoor ploy to force people off the plots so they can sell the land :(
You mean like politicians taking backhanders to sell the land off to property developers
About time we put a stop to these parasites and made me priminister
How about it
my policy's are
Free plots
free beer
Not to mention the sex  :) ;D ;D
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: Sparkly on November 23, 2008, 12:29:37
Ouch! I know our rents will be going up next year though (Trafford), but not by anything near that increase. I find this sort of thing very annoying. The council funds plenty of minority schemes. My tax goes towards plenty of things I don't need/want. In the grand scheme of things a few £ a week is still cheap, but for plenty of people that is a large amount of money. I know on our site there are plenty of pensioners who, for them, this would be a large hit. It's disgraceful. 
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: Si D on November 23, 2008, 16:05:22
I heard the story the other day, shocking.

Have to agree with what's been said - such a rise would force me of the plot and into giving up growing all together as I don't have garden room.

But I think that for our site they'd have a job getting it through on that basis as there is a large area of 'waste' land next tot he sites that used to be allotments years ago but has been left to revert now, and another fenced, unused area just down the road that the council want to keep everyone off but can't find a use for.

Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: ceres on November 23, 2008, 16:40:34
Our council have produced a discussion paper on the allotment issue in this borough.  The ideas seem to be geared towards how to stop people getting allotments rather than how to provide enough to meet demand.  E.g. stop people outside the borough getting a plot, if you have any kind of garden at home you shouldn't have a plot.  It'll never fly but I don't imagine we'll get any more allotmentts either.
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: tonybloke on November 23, 2008, 21:30:47
glad we've got an independant association ;)
Title: Re: news just on the telly
Post by: springs on November 24, 2008, 21:33:22
Leamington Town council hope to put pressure on planners to create allotments for new homes. The council voted unanimously last week to ask for plots whenever more than 19 new houses or flats were built Which could lead to 2000 being created around Leamington Warwick and Kenilworth.
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