Trying to get allotments reinstated

[skegblade]

You're right rusty lady; I believe it's six who must all be local couincil tax payers. I seem to remember reading it in the mag.

[seasprout]

I have remembered about this site, it used to be The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister but now its a local government site.. Its info on the statutory stuff to do with allotments.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1127689

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This bit is in the info..

A summary of responsibilities

Local authorities

Allotments are usually provided by your local authority which is sometimes known as an allotment authority'. This can be the local district, borough or parish council. The allotment authority will usually provide the plot holder with a renewable one-year lease and is responsible for the collection of rent, management, and maintenance of the site. Where there is no available land within a parish, district or borough, the allotment authority may provide land outside of these areas.

Each allotment authority decides for itself how much of its resources to devote to allotments. However, if an authority believes there is a demand, it has a statutory duty to provide a sufficient quantity of plots and to lease them to people living in its area. If local people feel there is a need for allotments which is not being met, they can get together a group of any six residents who are registered on the electoral roll and put their case to the local authority.
Allotment authorities usually have arrangements for consulting plot holders and many even employ dedicated allotment managers who liaise over the day to day management of sites. Some authorities also have consultative panels for communicating and resolving disputes between the authority, the plot holders and their associations.

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As there is already unused allotment's I think half your battle is won, it appears you need the local authority to spend money making the area usable, you really need local support for this I think, it may help if you can convince the local authority that grants are available to help with this..!!

Again all the best.

[JanieB]

Hi Deb

I'm on our local council's "Recreation and Open spaces" committee. It's sort of formal as in there are rules laid down to be followed and also informal in that people are friendly.

I suspect that the land that used to be allotments cannot be used for anything except as an open space amenity for the community. Go along to your local Parish Clerk at least three days before their next meeting (either full council or whichever committee deals with your open spaces) and have your proposal added to the agenda. The clerk will be really helpful and can advise you.

Good luck

Janie

[vicki lorraine]

Good luck with the campaign
The land will only be dumped on if left for too long.

[Dobby]

Good luck Deb!

[nick the grief]

Thanks for all your support and helpfull advice

I am going to pop round and see the lady next door as she has lived here for over 50 years knows everyone and is a church goer so hopefully she will be able to give me some numbers and spread the news.

The school gates a no go as my son said if I turned up at his high school he would leave home.
might be worth a try! lol

Ill let you know how it progresses and contact some of the links you gave me

Thanks again I'm feeling more confident knowing you are all behind me

Deb

Good on ya Deb. If you can find another five people that would like one you have them by the short and curlies Also this site may prove a good source of info and there are an amazing amount of funds available for things like this as it will benefit the local community. If the School isn't interested try the local scouts & Guides they might be.

http://www.farmgarden.org.uk/ari/ind...tpage&Itemid=1

[deb of the wych]

HOORAY!!!
they have agreed to reinstate the allotments

we are advertising in the parish magazine for any other intrest and I agreed to be the point of contact.

The only problem is that they haven't got any money as they are trying to repair the village hall that was vandalised last year

so we are going to have to do it on a very tight budget

maybe we can get some sponsership from the large garden center Webbs of Wychbold.

oh well we can but try

we wouldn't be gardeners if we didn't enjoy a challenge

I am really excited.

Deb

[Mrs Dobby]

Well done Deb!!!!! I bet you are sooo excited that you want to run off and start NOW!!! I know I would!

Nick the Grief had soe very good suggestions as to how to get funding a while back, I'm sure a PM to him would not be amiss, tho he will probably be in here at some time and offer some good advice too!

[nick the grief]

as if by magic ....

Hi Debsm well done!! not sure if you qualify as heart of england or not so the addresses I've got probably won't be any use for you. But don't give up. The allotment Regeneration Initiative is worth a try they have loads of info on fund raising. Also try your local Bourough council they may have EEC funding for comunity projects ( we got 12 sheds for our site via this route).

Another idea ( probably next year now is a plant sale, our Chrysanth & Dahlia society runs 2 in May & we fund the two shows from this ( around £600!!). Try writing to some of the bigger shops ( B&Q do a community thing aswell and Shell )
ANyway here's ARI's website

http://www.farmgarden.org.uk/ari/ind...tpage&Itemid=1

[deb of the wych]

thanks mrs d and ntg

Im soo excited I dont know if Im going to be able to sleep

Thanks for the advice I've had a look at the ARI but they are no longer giving out grants and as we havnt got a committee never mind a bank account I dont know if they will help us

well not yet anyway

and as they say from little acorns (me) great oak trees grow (committee)lol

[nick the grief]

Hi Deb, whilst they don't give out grants they do list other people that do ( Esmee Fairburs trust etc) so have alook on the leaflet pages & download the ones on there. ALso they have some rules from various sites ( I filched the ones from a council run site as I figured that their legal bods had been over it) and altered to suit our needs.

If you need any help or advice just e-mail me.

[deb of the wych]

Thanks nick I will email you when I get more people and a bit organised.
I dont know if we come under heart of england we are in worcestershire between Bromsgrove and Droitwich and in respect of your other thread I was born in Warwickshire Gods own county, Stratford upon Avon to be exact

The next question is when we return to the council should I ask them to plough over the site or see if they know a friendly farmer as this is farming land or try and clear it ourselves as it hasnt been used for ten years.

[madderbat]

Congrats Deb, well done for getting this far. Hang on in there and keep believing

I'm sure the other (more experienced) grapes have good advice about getting grants etc, but you might like to check out this site for some more info.
http://www.allotment.org.uk/garden/A...ment/index.php

Best of luck, and keep us posted.

[Raised Beds]

Hi Deb
Well done as well for getting it done.
How about putting out a help call on the forum for some volunteers to help clear one or two plots on a Saturday or two. A team effort. Some to offer advice and some to do the work .

On offer, one spade and one fork for one Saturday. Just speak the word.

[nick the grief]

Thanks nick I will email you when I get more people and a bit organised.
I dont know if we come under heart of england we are in worcestershire between Bromsgrove and Droitwich and in respect of your other thread I was born in Warwickshire Gods own county, Stratford upon Avon to be exact

The next question is when we return to the council should I ask them to plough over the site or see if they know a friendly farmer as this is farming land or try and clear it ourselves as it hasnt been used for ten years.

If the site is completely derelict you have a blank canvass. Don't just think of what you need now but allow for expansion/the future. You may want a site shop cum office in the future so that will need siting somewhere easy to get to to accept deliveries. Also if you can get manure from a farmer it may help if they can drop it on the end of the plots.

You may need to clear the site before you can get it ploughed so maybe you could ask the council if they can loan you some strimmers to cut down any growth and then you can see what crap is left. Then I would think about having is all ploughed over then you can mark it out properly and ensure that now one pinches a bit