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At the moment a group of us are considering whether to 'go it alone' on running a potential allotment site or whether to twist the council's arm to take it on. As there is no site at present, they have said they will consider this if we find suitable land, but this has proved difficult because of the level of new building in the area. Most land is already committed with planning permission in place.
The owner of the land does not want it to go to developers, and therefore wants a long lease to protect it.
There are only two provisos, one that all plots are organic, the land has been grass for over 20 years, and before that was a strawberry field. No chemicals have been used on it since before it went to grass. The second is, we can't shoot the rabbits or foxes.
One of our group is sure she can apply for grants that would pay for car parking, water connection and a rabbit proof fence. In many ways we want to go it alone, as then we can make the rules, but we are apprehensive about the level of commitment required. It is likely that if we involve the council they will want all sheds to conform to a particular design (this point has been made by them in the past), no livestock etc. We want a site where people can recycle anything, keep animals if wanted, and we were thinking rather than all one size plots, it would be better to have at least 2 sizes, so people can choose whatever they feel they can manage.
Is anyone involved in running a private allotment site and have any comments on the pros and cons of going it alone, without council involvement? How difficult is it to keep the books balanced etc?
The owner of the land does not want it to go to developers, and therefore wants a long lease to protect it.
There are only two provisos, one that all plots are organic, the land has been grass for over 20 years, and before that was a strawberry field. No chemicals have been used on it since before it went to grass. The second is, we can't shoot the rabbits or foxes.
One of our group is sure she can apply for grants that would pay for car parking, water connection and a rabbit proof fence. In many ways we want to go it alone, as then we can make the rules, but we are apprehensive about the level of commitment required. It is likely that if we involve the council they will want all sheds to conform to a particular design (this point has been made by them in the past), no livestock etc. We want a site where people can recycle anything, keep animals if wanted, and we were thinking rather than all one size plots, it would be better to have at least 2 sizes, so people can choose whatever they feel they can manage.
Is anyone involved in running a private allotment site and have any comments on the pros and cons of going it alone, without council involvement? How difficult is it to keep the books balanced etc?
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