Increase in allotment waiting times

[Eyren]

Our local Council have said that there is a caveat in the Allotment act that says you can only have one Allotment space, so they have been very active on reducing 2/3 plot ownership.

I wonder what our 2-plot-owning committee members would say about that...

[jackie j]

Could you not give up 1/2 a plot and help someone into being a Allotment holder, they could then move up later and your plot will still be yours... Our local Council have said that there is a caveat in the Allotment act that says you can only have one Allotment space, so they have been very active on reducing 2/3 plot ownership.

I dont agree that giving up half a plot would help in the short term if original plot holders are still working the plot to its full extent.

If a plot is not being worked to its full potential most of the time and just left for a few months then cleared and then left for another few months and only weeds grow then the council should be quicker at getting people off.

I havent been able to do a lot to my plot this winter due to the weather ( like most of us ) and also my hand op. I do have about 100 onions, 30 garlic, 100 red onions as well as shallots, broad beans, all overwintered. Strawberies, blackcurrant, ruhbarb, blacberry, loganberry and herbs that I put in when I first got my plot the year before. I have also had manure where my potatoes will go soon.
Just because I havent been to the plot very much and will only be able to go at weekends untill I can drive again ( might walk takes 1/2 an hour ) doesnt mean I am not willing.

[Mrs Dobby]

Could you not give up 1/2 a plot and help someone into being a Allotment holder, they could then move up later and your plot will still be yours... Our local Council have said that there is a caveat in the Allotment act that says you can only have one Allotment space, so they have been very active on reducing 2/3 plot ownership.

Hi there,

I understand what you are saying, but we do use every bit of both the plots, so giving up some space would leave us without enough room to grow all our crops, and as there are 2 of us, then technically we have 1 plot each, so we arent owning multiple plots without a reason.

When we took over each of the plots they were very neglected, the first plot hadnt been worked in 2 years, had weeds and brambles to over 8' high, and took almost 6 months of clearing, double digging and darned hard work (every day off, every spare moment) to get to the reasonable condition it is now in, so not being funny, but why should we give up part of a plot that is being fully utilised? Especially when there are other plotholders who do nothing more than clear an area every 6 months and then arent seen again for a long time. It is these 'ghost' plot holders that should be giving up their plots so that others can get a chance. I've also got to add that many who take on plots round here dont stick it out, they take it on, do a bit of clearing, then when they realise just how much work it will take to get it sorted and keep it sorted, they disappear!

[duggie]

Hear, hear Mrs Dobby.

Why should you give up a plot that has taken time and hard work to cultivate on the off chance that a newcomer will cultivate it?

So often newcomers don't stay the course when they realise the hard work, time and effort involved in working a plot. The red tape involved in kicking tenants off unworked plots is so long winded it can take a couple of years to free the plot again to someone else.

Our waiting list has gone from 12 in 2007 to 122 in January 2009. Problem is that there must be roughly 15 plots on our site that are unworked but the tenants have paid their rent for the year. When a plot inspection generates a letter informing them that they need to cultivate it, they dig a patch and make it look like it is being worked until after the next inspection - then they let it grow over again!

Makes me so cross

[pigletwillie]

I have 3 and a half plots, all fully cultivated and in use, our waiting list is not huge but bigger than last year. However, out of the 27 new recruits offered plots in October 07, 14 let their plots go in October 08, over 50%.

We take the view that proven allotmenteers who actively use their plots, invest in them and use them to the full are a far better proposition to most of the newbies in keeping the site alive.

Our site is worth over £5 million on the open market, a full rosta of plots makes it impossible for the council to sneak it off us, 5 years ago it very nearly was.

[becslb]

As someone who has been waiting for an allotment for 5 years... i wouldn't expect current allotmenteers who have more than 1 plot and who use those plots to the full to give a plot up... as far as I am concerned, that person is actively using that land to the full and that is fine.

[pigletwillie]

A big problem is ghost plotters, they have them but do nothing with them, I have one next to me, its a big waste of a plot.

[jackie j]

I think all allotments should have a two or three strikes and your out policy. If only weeds grow and plot holder is told to clear it up and does so but doesnt do anything else they shouldnt be allowed to pay the rent to keep them unused. If there were no waiting lists this wouldnt be a problem but as so many do why does it take so long to get someone off.

[catgardener]

There is no waiting list on our site. There are even a few empty plots available! The site is getting busier every year, and is now a lot fuller than it was when I took on my allotment 4 years ago. It is good to see most of it finally being used.

[Eyren]

I know we had a tough year in 2007, having taken the plot in summer 2006. Spring started well, then between May and July it rained almost constantly, making it impossible to get anything done on the plot. The garlic was choked by couch grass and disappeared before we could harvest it, the slugs ate nearly everything I sowed direct (I got maybe half a dozen maincrop carrots), and the only thing that thrived was red orache - which my husband didn't like!

It was all very disheartening, and I can totally sympathise with any newbie who has taken on an allotment in the past two years and given up in despair. That's not to say they should be allowed to let their plots go to rack and ruin, though! You have to learn from your mistakes, vow to work harder and find ways around all the problems that weather and pests can throw at you.

[allotmentlady]

I had 1 allotment but it was originally plots 2 and 3, this is what was stated on my tenancy agreement. I left this plot to go and share with gordon, so i gave up 2 allotments, gordon gave up 1 and we moved onto a larger allotment that we share. The agreement with the council was that we shared this allotment. Now I am being told that when gordon goes to the great garden in the sky, I have to share it with someone else. Now I have put a lot of work into this plot and I do not want to share it with anyone else, when they are 10 or 11 plots unworked on our site!!! I will fight them all the way. I really do think that having an allotment to some people is a status symbol.

[SarzWix]

I really do think that having an allotment to some people is a status symbol.

I totally agree. The plot next door to mine is held by a couple with young kids. He worked hard on it, and it was going fine, but then his work hours changed and she decided she was doing it... Goodness knows why, because she has no intention of doing the work herself! For a few months she 'shared the plot' with a bunch of childminders, whingeing toddlers there every couple of days, but nowt done. Then she got her teenage son to do it, but she wouldn't let him plant anything Last year, the whole plot was covered in blue tarpaulin and left. I can't see why she wants to keep it, it produced nothing last year, unless she just wants to say "Oh yes, we've got an allotment" at the mother & toddler group!

Our waiting list is growing too, it's about 20 people now. But even so, 3 lots of them got put to the end of the list for refusing a plot last year... Can't be that desperate if they're not prepared to dig a bit!!!

[allotmentlady]

I have asked our council to provide temporary tenancy agreements for 12 months, if they have not done much or anything then they are automatically off - they are considering it

[DavidM31]

When we got our allotment in September 2005 there was no waiting list we got our plot within a month of applying.
See below for waiting time now.

Charnwood Borough Council - Parks and Open Spaces - Allotments

Very interesting, looking at your attachment, but all those allotment sites have a low number of plots, but when you read down further the plots are much larger than the ones down here.
My allotment site has 144 plots some of them are only 6 metres by 4 metres and none of them is as large as the sizes in your area.

I think that across the country, there must be dozens if not 100's of plots that are not being used properly or at best just a bit of one. If only these people could be kicked off a lot more keen people waiting on lists could be offered plots.
Also the waiting lists will be longer if the size of the site is small, so it is all relevant to that.

[DavidM31]

Hear, hear Mrs Dobby.

Why should you give up a plot that has taken time and hard work to cultivate on the off chance that a newcomer will cultivate it?

So often newcomers don't stay the course when they realise the hard work, time and effort involved in working a plot. The red tape involved in kicking tenants off unworked plots is so long winded it can take a couple of years to free the plot again to someone else.

Our waiting list has gone from 12 in 2007 to 122 in January 2009. Problem is that there must be roughly 15 plots on our site that are unworked but the tenants have paid their rent for the year. When a plot inspection generates a letter informing them that they need to cultivate it, they dig a patch and make it look like it is being worked until after the next inspection - then they let it grow over again!


Makes me so cross

Exactly the sort of thing I was talking about in my last post, why do these people keep an allotment when they don't actively grow anything on it,whats the point.

I agree with Mrs Dobby, if you are fortunate enough to have been offered a second plot when there was no call for it and you are using it to its full potential then thats fine.

Its those that only pretend to use it, by doing a quick half day clear up and then disappear for the rest of the season that need kicking off the site, then you would see the waiting lists halved.

Yes Duggie it makes me mad as well.