Is there a law that says we should be provided with allotments?

[Mrs Dobby]

When we took our first plot 4 years ago there was no waiting list, in fact, there were plots stood empty on our site (and all over the council sites in Trafford), in fact 6 months after we got our first (and had finished clearing it) we were asked to take a second plot to help keep the allotments open! I believe at its worst there were only 5 tennants (with 2 plots each) on the 32 plot site!

Nowadays its a different story, all the plots are taken, the majority are worked to some extent (only 3 of the newly taken plots arent fully worked atm, basically because they are still clearing the weeds) and we have a waiting list of 17!

Its the same all over our council sites, long waiting lists on all the allotments, but our council are doing their best to find and bring in more sites, in the past 2 years we know of 3 new sites that have opened and another 5 that are currently being looked at. The cost of bringing a new alllotment site into use isnt cheap, access, fencing, internal paths / roads, car parking, toilets plus clearing the land all costs significant amounts of money, which in a time of budget constraints can be hard to acchieve.

We know 2 of the folks who work in the parks and allotment depts, and they are great people who really do try their best to provide the facilities that everyone wants, but its not an easy job to do with the pressure and financial restrictions in place.

I think the local councils would love to be able to immediately provide everyone that wants an allotment with one, but the reality is that there just isnt the money availbale to do so currently!

The law however does state if 6 local residents do get together and make a request there is a legal obligation to provide them with a new site, as long as it is at all possible, but in reality there are a thousand hurdles that can stop the council from doing so!

If it was me looking for a plot and wanting to get a new site up n running, then I'd see if I could find a bit of land that would meet the criteria, get a petition together, and then start writing letters and contacting councillors and your MP to see whetehr you can get any joy!

HTH

[buzzingtalk]

when i lived in london it was rediculous, the amount of time you had to wait for an allotment. i didnt even bother going on the list as it was, yearrsssssssss. someone told me the waiting list where i lived was 40 years

plus the allotments were right next to the M11 and had no amenities on them, not much use to anyone really.

since moving up to norwich i have a small bit of concrete round the back of my house to put pot plants in but i'd love an allotment - hopefully the waiting lists in norwich aren't as rediculous as london ones - 1 year and waiting!

[rustylady]

Get your name down Buzzingtalk. You could also try Landshare Landshare - connecting growers to people with land to share.

[Alison]

plus the allotments were right next to the M11 and had no amenities on them, not much use to anyone really.

Don't write off sites that don't look perfect initially. We don't have any amenities but that doesn't stop us growing a huge amount of beautiful crops . You don't need much if you've got the space.

[buzzingtalk]

Get your name down Buzzingtalk. You could also try Landshare Landshare - connecting growers to people with land to share.

i got on the waiting list as soon as i moved into norwich apparently only a 2-3 year wait, so next year or 2012

[buzzingtalk]

Don't write off sites that don't look perfect initially. We don't have any amenities but that doesn't stop us growing a huge amount of beautiful crops . You don't need much if you've got the space.

it was right next to a massive motorway, and as an asthmatic its probably not a place to spend lots of time the waiting lists on them were rediculous, to the point where i just moved out of london instead!