Can any one help me please? :) I need some information and guidance. I made a new friend from Dorset and I'm very concerned when she told me she was 115 on the waiting list. Is this allowed? The poor love feels she will never see an allotment in her life time.....I can't hide the fact that it has made me rather angry >:(. Aren't the council obliged to meet the demands if its over a certain number of people on the waiting list?
law say they have provide them if there is an interest. there is no set time limit for providing them. most councils sold off unused allotment land to developers to build housing that is now in foreclosure. So once the shoddy built houses fall down and provide green field again. the council might give you an over grown piece land with all sorts rubble that you need dig out for you allotment plot. Which is not so different then the standard plot. So let say you have 3-10 year wait.
I am afraid long waiting lists are a fact of life at the moment. :(
We have long lists for each of the sites in our area, but fair play to the council they have just established a new 50 plot site . So it would seem they do listen.
It is probably going to be about right. Some councils have even closed waiting lists because of the projected 10 year wait. With 60 on our list the wait time is estimated to be about 4 years.
Surely it depends on the number of allotments that exist in the area as to whether a waiting list is long or not? I know it is subjective but some areas have hundreds and hundreds of allotments and the turnover will then be much bigger than - for instance my area where there are probably just 100 plots and there is just a small waiting list as there are less people wanting them too!
As for "forcing" councils to make new allotments - this obviously cannot happen in certain areas as there is not the land available whether it be open spaces or not - it is just not there! eg. central London.
I would get your friend to consider other options that are becoming more available like looking for someone with a garden that they cannot manage and do that for them sharing some of the produce. Meanwhile staying on "the waiting list" for an allotment of their own.
Why not put the energy you use "feeling angry" to better use and help her find an alternative either long or short term.
O B
Hi ..have you tried hugh fernly whittingstalls landshare scheme..i went on and there are lots of folk with huge gardens and no idea what to do...all they want out of it is a share of the crops...seems fair to me.. and it might be quicker to get one of them than an allotment...good luck