94th on waiting list :(

[Bramble_killer]

Put my name down for an allotment after being inspired by the bit of gardening this year and expected some sort of queue but just been told that the allotment closest to me (right behind my back gate actually!) has 93 people waiting.

The one next closest to me has 130 people.

The lady at the council said no one was allowed to have double plots on all the sites,and big plots were broken up from 5 rods to 2.5 rods when they became available and there would be a new site (which would be too far for me) soon.

Just got to sit and wait

[HeyWayne]

Could be worse, you could be 95th.

Just imagine how excited you'll be when you get "the call".

Good luck, hope you're not waiting too long.

[SarzWix]

Gosh, that's a bit much! And 'big plots of 5 rods' are still only half plots - a full plot is traditionally 10 rods! I can't imagine trying to wedge everything into a quarter plot

If they're setting up a new site somewhere, hopefully your waiting list will shrink a bit then. And some people will be on the list for more than one site, so it may not be as bad as it seems. How many plots are there on your preferred site?

[ckfe]

i've just phoned the council, apparently i'm 48th on the waiting list for one site and 81st on the other

i phoned the private one that i put my name down on and i'm roughly 40th which doesn't sound bad until you consider that there's only 47 plots on the site... basically i've got to wait till pretty much everyone leaves!!

[bluemoon]

I know it sounds bad, Bramble Killer (and with a name like that you're obviously perfect for a lottie) but you will probably find that the waiting lists are actually shorter than they seem. There will be people on there who put their name down, forgot about it and won't accept it when it's offered. There will be people who have their name down at multiple sites (and even if your council doesn't allow this there are ways around it, like getting your mates to join the queue for you), there will be people who've moved and haven't given their new address to the allotments office, there will be people who really, really wanted one, but who now have gone on to some other hobby. Admittedly it will still take time, but hopefully not as long as you fear.

[Bramble_killer]

Gosh, that's a bit much! And 'big plots of 5 rods' are still only half plots - a full plot is traditionally 10 rods! I can't imagine trying to wedge everything into a quarter plot

If they're setting up a new site somewhere, hopefully your waiting list will shrink a bit then. And some people will be on the list for more than one site, so it may not be as bad as it seems. How many plots are there on your preferred site?

thankfully the garden is a sensible size, the allotment is sort of the overflow, or the plants that need less management.

I didn't realise proper allotments were that large , everything down south must be smaller.

There's 40ish plots on this site, the other site with 130 people is 100 ish plots.

Thanks heywayne and bluemoon, i'll get an allotment one day!.ckfe, good luck

[ckfe]

Thanks heywayne and bluemoon, i'll get an allotment one day!.ckfe, good luck

thanks bramble, am i evil in thinking that swine flu might not be such a bad thing if it rapidly went round the allotments?

[ckfe]

has anyone ever been around about the 100th on the waiting list but got an allotment quite soon? i'd love to hear if you have, might give me and bramble a bit of hope!

[NOG]

We now only let new people have a 3 month tenancy....if at the end they are doing ok we let them pay to year end and they are one of us. If its all too much off they go and someone else gets a go,

We find that a lot of peope think its all great but don't realise the work involved.

[Farmer_Gyles]

just had a letter from croydon council offering me a plot - have been on their waiting list for 2 years - there are about 20 plots available on a site with about 120 plots
was given a plot under neighbouring council last year, slightly further away - very tempted to take up a new plot under croydon council and maybe drop the existing plot, but i'm currently crippled with arthritis and can't do much digging as it is ......

[Two_Sheds]

everything down south must be smaller.

everything except the salaries and the house prices

We now only let new people have a 3 month tenancy...
We find that a lot of peope think its all great but don't realise the work involved.

that's a brilliant idea. The plot next to me put up a big expensive fence, new shed, new raised beds, and a £1500 greenhouse ... and they haven't been seen for months. the beds are all covered in couch again. I've got my eye on that greenhouse!

just had a letter from croydon council offering me a plot - there are about 20 plots available

I put my name down on 3 sites, waited 6 months, heard nothing. I then literally walked onto the site one day and talked to the Site Rep, who said "oh, we've got loads of empty plots". It's so frustrating.... the Secretary hadn't contacted the Site Rep at all.

Allotments aren't very well organised - people don't talk to each other, enquiries don't get followed up.

Same thing with my new plot. I wrote, I phoned ... nothing. So I walked up there, saw an empty plot covered in brambles, and made a nuisance of myself until they let me have it!

[ckfe]

just been round to the smaller allotment site near me (about 20 plots on it) and put my name down.. apparently there's only about 9 other ppl on the list in front of me and the allotment ppl are in the middle of creating another 2 half plots so in theory when someone gets them i'll be 8th on the list!!

[Bramble_killer]

wondering if i should walk down towards the allotments and have a chat. quite scary though as they have gates and you can't just walk in and have a chat.

[ckfe]

wondering if i should walk down towards the allotments and have a chat. quite scary though as they have gates and you can't just walk in and have a chat.

yeah i was lucky that some guy was hovering about outside taking some kind of delivery

although when i went to the first site a few weeks ago i just walked through the gates and nobody batted an eyelid

[Two_Sheds]

wondering if i should walk down towards the allotments and have a chat. quite scary though as they have gates and you can't just walk in and have a chat.

Well how badly do you want a plot? Where's your mustard?

Our plot has locked gates too. I just kept going past until I saw a person, shouted Hullo and they let me in to have a look round.