Allotments- unfair system!

[BrideXIII]

Could be worse............could be children!!!!

at least if it was children you could hire them out to other lottie holders to do weeding?

[flowerofshona]

Remember, until it became cool to grow your own there where many plots in a bad state and plot holders where being begged to take on more plots !!!
In our area we have a waiting list of 242 + with about a 3-4 year wait !!
Its down to the council to provide more plots and as with our site most full plots are split down into 1/2 and 1/4 size plots which means very few have a 'whole' plot ! great until you try growing enough food to feed your family all year which should be easy enough to do but you need enough room !
If someone has more than one plot and does not wok them they should lose one plot.
Raied beds look 'nice' and neat but a normal plot is far less wastefull of space, we have had both and prefer the normal kind as far less space is wasted.

[hawthorns]

i have just applied for an allotment in my area but after reading these threads im expecting a long wait

[Dipzy]

We're lucky we got offered one this week although we have to wait another week before we get on. Our site appears completely unmanaged and most of the plots that are in use are a complete mess and not very productive. Luckily for us the plot we got is in a state where we can get a third of it going with a few weeks hard graft. The rest is over grown and partly undercover but at least we have a shed. We feel quite fortunate to be on and also now before winter (if the weather holds).

Its generated quite a bit of heated debate on this thread and I have to say I plan to put in raised beds if I can get some scaffolding boards, going to ring around builder friends tomorrow.

[di]

It's a tricky one!!We have two plots & like many others took them on before waiting lists became an issue.There's actually still several vacant plots on our site(despite only being a couple of miles from a far trendier one that has a waiting list!!)& I'm seriously considering whether if the one next to us becomes vacant whether to take on another.Ten rods seems a lot,but when you allow room for chooks/pumpkins/spuds & then the rest it soon gets swallowed up!!
Has anyone successfully gone down the route of finding 6 other people wanting an allotment & getting the council to provide?I've heard a lot about it but not from anyone that's succeeded?Considering the amount of wasteland most councils have,I consider the bone to be picked should be with councils not the dedicated plotholders,who for many have not only put in many years of hardwork to get their plot(s) to where it is,but also a fair amount of money improving the soil.To many their allotments are their lives & pride!Are they really the ones that should be made to feel guilty?

[yorkshire sam]

I have followed this thread with intrest as I am on the committee at our association and understand a lot of the problems of waiting lists and people wanting allotments. We have around 100 plots on our site with a waiting list of around 20. We do have a turn over of people who come and go quickly because of losing intrest or not understanding the work involved. We do 3 site inspections through the year and if a plot is not being cultivated we give the owner a warning notice to quit if it shows no improvement - two consequetive warnings is a notice to quit. The problems we find with a lot of newbys is that some just want to be able to say 'I have an allotment' and dont really have any notion to cultivate it, or take on a patch then quickly become disenchanted and are seldom seen again. We do get a lot of genuine people who take on plots and do a lot of hard work and tame the plots so that the number of plots falling vacant each year gets lower year on year. We do get some odd characters - for example one guy was a builder who was really looking for a cheap place to store his building materials - at £30 per year much cheaper than a lock up. Fortunately he is no longer with us. Or one of our long term waiters(?) who is only interested in a weed free plot which has a shed and poly tunnel on. needless to say he is still on the waiting list!

[Stacey Steve]

Is that all he wants? Couldn't you run to supplying this on a plot for him? And maybe a decent BBQ, set of tools, seeds etc.

[pigletwillie]

We have the same issues as Yorkshire Sam and thus are very inclined to give existing proven plotholders a second plot but only when there is no waiting list.

We have a average 30-40% turnover of newbies each year who think they can plant seeds in May and return in September to harvest. This gives us the headache of having to clear plots each year to re-let as they have been "let go" so to speak.

As for raised beds being arty farty. Well I challenge anybody who "strip" cultivates to produce the amount of produce, of a similar quality and over as long a period as we do on our first plot which has 23 raised beds on 2/3rds of it.

[Kayt]

There's actually still several vacant plots on our site(despite only being a couple of miles from a far trendier one that has a waiting list

What makes a trendy site? I'm quite new to the allotment culture and although our site is quite friendly you do have to wait to 'fit in' with some of the older tenants; I think I'm getting there Our site has a few vacant plots and no waiting list but the council seems to want to only offer half plots all the time which is not suitable for everyone.

[di]

What makes a trendy site? I'm quite new to the allotment culture and although our site is quite friendly you do have to wait to 'fit in' with some of the older tenants; I think I'm getting there Our site has a few vacant plots and no waiting list but the council seems to want to only offer half plots all the time which is not suitable for everyone.

I have no idea!!!!We have soil~they have soil!!

[Kayt]

I wonder if we will become a trendy site with our new security fencing and the promise of a mains toilet? Most of the other sites in our area have compost loos!

[lynda66]

i'm still waiting for one of 100 new plots ..... it isn't council land, the land was basically marshland, bought to build an industrial estate on, and the owners are giving the council the land back to use as allotments ...... we just have to wait till they decide exactly where and when it's going to be. There were loads of plots in nearby towns, i was offered one of these, but too far to travel without a car,(bus fares don't make for cheap veg) but over the last few months all these plots have gone and all the sites are back up to a waiting list.

was thinking about the six person rule, if there are 20 people on a list, then surely that's more than 6 people who want one, so new allotments should be provided, maybe that's the way to approach the councils, get everyone together (advert in local papers if you can't get their contact details) and quote their own regulations at them?? at the end of the day, if that is the council law, then they should have to abide by it.

[Shortie]

This gives us the headache of having to clear plots each year to re-let as they have been "let go" so to speak.

Blimey PW...... we don't get ours touched at all before we take them on... it took me two years and a good dose of my Dad's help to get plot one (now shared with said Dad) in good shape and I'm single handedly trugging through my second one... we dont' get ours cleared

Can I come and join you guys?

[zazen999]

We got ours cleared, but we don't have any access to clean water. Trendy it is not!!!

[hawthorns]

today ive been told im 50th on the waiting list. people ahead of me went on the list in late 2005/early 2006 looks like im in for a long wait.