I applied for an allotment in my home town, Poynton about 2 years ago. I was advised by Macclesfield Borough Council that I was number 24 on the list, and the first few people on the list had been waiting nearly 10 years!!! :o
When I questionned the provision of allotments (allotment law 1908), I was told, at the time, that as a borough council they could offer me a plot in Handforth...which is about 6-7 miles away.
I don't drive, and the only spare plots in the borough are inaccessible by public transport. >:( (public transport is really bad in Macclesfield)
There is clearly a huge demand in my area...but Macclesfield BC say that they are not falling foul of the law because they have a couple of spare plots in the borough, and I can have one of them! Even though its miles away! >:(
Surely this is a ridiculous situation??? The allotments in Poynton have been over-subscribed for about a decade. Long before allotmenteering came back in fashion! There's plenty of public owned, largely unused green space around Poynton.
Can anyone suggest any way forward? ???
This kind of thing bugs the hell out of me, it may be hard but if you could get hold of a list of (real) names of people on the list then you may be able to prove that Macclesfield borough council arn't abiding by the allotment act of 1908 (wasn't that updated in the second world war?) other than that have you thought of starting a petition in the area and handing it to your local MP?